The Village Hidden in the Sakura Blossoms
by NaruIno367
Summary: After the war, Naruto takes Gaara back to when they were six years old. After traveling together, Naruto, Gaara, and Temari build a village called Sakuragakure. It's later established as one of the great nations. NaruTema, GaaNaru friendship.
1. Chapter 1 The End and The Start

First written fic… reviews would help me bunches.

Disclaimer: If I owned Naruto, Sakura would've been killed by Sasuke or Sasori, Gaara would live in Konoha, and Haku would have survived.

Gaara POV

Gaara collapsed onto his knees, finally out of energy. He looked around, taking in the scent of blood and flesh as well as the sight of a battered up field riddled with the bodies of dead Kunoichi and Shinobi. Off to the right he saw Temari, her body badly beaten, throat slashed, fingers missing, and stained with blood that probably wasn't even hers. Her fan was broken in half by Madara, who now lay in the middle of the battlefield, an enormous hole in his torso where Naruto's _Rasen-Shuriken_ had pierced.

Gaara crawled over to where Madara was, cautious as a skittish cat. After making sure he was truly dead, Gaara inspected his wound. Upon closer examination, Gaara discovered it wasn't the pierce from the Jutsu itself that killed him. In fact, Naruto had somehow managed to tweak the _Rasen-Shuriken_ enough to shut off chakra flow completely, for all of Madara's chakra was gone.

Shortly after the _Rasen-Shuriken_ hit Madara, Naruto was thrown into the distance with the force of his Jutsu. A few others, such as Sakura, Kankuro, Haku, and Samui couldn't withstand the shockwave and were disintegrated. Hinata was kidnapped by the Akatsuki for interrogation and torture, and came back with nails embedded in each joint in both her hands*, dozens of cuts throughout her body, and was missing a leg. 'Tobi' told the Shinobi Allied Forces that that was what would happen if they tried to resist. Soon after the horrid installment, Neji, Lee, Tenten, Kakashi, Mei, Onoki, and Ino all tried to attack simultaneously, but were instantly sucked into a strange vortex. The Aburame, Nara, Yamanaka, Akimichi, and Hyuga clans were all annihilated completely for reasons unknown. Currently, no Uchiha clansmen were still living.

"It's terrible, isn't it?"

The voice behind Gaara made him jump, until he realized its origin.

"I don't think that this was a war. I'm pretty sure this was a murder instead," Naruto added, sobbing lightly. Gaara could sense a shaky vibe from the normally rambunctious nineteen-year-old.

"I didn't expect so many to die," Gaara replied, a sad tone in his voice.

"Nobody did. I'm sorry about Temari and Kankuro, by the way. I couldn't save either one of them."

"No one could've. I don't blame anyone."

"I've never felt so helpless in my life. I feel as if there's a seven ton weight on my chest and there's no way to lift it."

"Hm. Tell me about it. I'm the Kazekage, yet I let the entirety of my people die before me, including the only two family members I had left."

"Actually, Gaara, there would've been three."

Gaara's head immediately spun around to face Naruto, surprised at the remark. "Three…? What're you talking about? I only have Temari and Kankuro."

Naruto sighed. "I hoped I wouldn't have to be the one to tell you. Temari was pregnant. You would've had a niece."

Gaara's eyes widened. How would Naruto know such startling information? Unless… "Who would've been her father?"

"That'd be me," Naruto scratched the back of his head while grinning sheepishly, though sadness was still detectable in his eyes. "Who'd have thought, right? That's what I'd say. Look closely at her stomach, just to prove I'm not spewing nonsense."

Naruto pointed over to Temari, and Gaara realized that there was a bulge protruding from her torso.

"Why didn't she tell me?"

"Two reasons. One: she thought you'd hurt me or something. Two: there was no way she was about to let her brothers fight without her."

Suddenly, it all made sense. The way Temari refused to wear her normal outfit and go for a looser black kimono, her constant mood swings, and her sudden cravings for the oddest of foods. How could he have missed these small but powerful hints?

"Gaara."

Gaara looked at his long-term friend, his eyes slightly watered at the thought of a baby that never got to be born.

"How badly do you want to go back? Back, as in back in time."

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I can make it happen."

Naruto pulled out two scrolls from a hidden pocket in his flak jacket. One was a dark crimson hue, and had a small gold charm at the end of a bright red string tied across the middle of it. The other was a deep cobalt shade, a slightly different gold charm at the end of a sky blue string. Naruto took his hitai-ate off, letting his waist-length blonde hair spill out onto his shoulders and back. Carefully opening both scrolls and laying them across from one another, Naruto placed his hitai-ate in the location where the two scrolls met. He held his hand out to Gaara.

"I need your hitai-ate if this is going to work."

"What do you mean by 'this'? I don't recall agreeing to anything, Naruto. Tell me and I'll think about it."

Naruto face-palmed. He knew this was going to be difficult, but not _this _difficult. "Remember when I asked you how badly you wanted to go back?" Gaara nodded slowly. "Well, what I meant was that I can perform a Jutsu that takes us backwards in time. However, only two people can go at a time. We can keep our memories, our chakra control, our Jutsu, and our intelligence. If we do this, we can re-shape our pasts. We can prevent any of this from happening." Naruto paused to look at Temari. "And we can make sure lives are spared."

Gaara studied Temari's body for a moment, sighed, and produced his hitai-ate from his gourd. He handed it to Naruto, who eagerly took it.

"Wait, how does this work exactly? Why does this certain Jutsu require hitai-ate?"

Naruto continued his work, placing Gaara's hitai-ate below his own. "Well, this Jutsu needs confirmation of who is returning. It needs a personal object of someone's. Quite frankly, the most personal thing a ninja can have is his hitai-ate. So naturally, that's what I chose."

Gaara sat back slightly, taking in all the information he just received.

After performing a few swift hand seals, Naruto pulled his hair back with a small headband, showing the Rinnegan in his left eye. He placed both of his hands on his red hitai-ate and motioned for Gaara to do the same. Gaara nervously complied with the motion.

"_Time Style: Time Transfer Jutsu_," Naruto whispered.

Both scrolls engulfed the headbands in the folds of slick yellow parchment. They shot up, much like Tenten's _Rising Twin Dragons_, started revolving around the Kage and Chunin, and continuously picked up speed. Gaara only had time to blink before he was engulfed in a blinding white light. However, before he was enclosed in the warmth, he could make out one last thing from Naruto's mouth.

"See you soon."

Naruto POV

Naruto shot up like a rocket, sweating like he was back in Suna dressed in winter clothes. After a moment of harsh breathing and a severely rapid heartbeat, the small blonde's memories began to flood in. Gaara, Temari, Sasuke, Tsunade, Jiraiya, Kakashi. One by one, their smiling faces poured into his brain. He remembered the war, Temari's death, _Rasen-Shuriken_, Minato and Kushina. The memories of all his Jutsu, odd discoveries, and nifty tricks followed. Most importantly, he remembered Gaara and him going to the past.

"Gaara!"

Naruto threw the blankets off his body and ran toward the nearest mirror in sight. He was back in his six-year-old form. Much to his surprise, however, his hair had stayed the way it was: knee-length, stick-straight, and covered his left eye. Naruto pushed the hair in his face back and attempted to activate the Rinnegan he acquired from the Uzumaki clan blood in his veins. He breathed a sigh of relief when the Rinnegan came into plain view. He de-activated it and stepped back, further examining his appearance.

"I really have to lose the orange," he said, groaning.

Naruto pulled the oddly colored shirt off, leaving him in white shorts and a mesh undercoat. After a few hours of working diligently, Naruto examined his needlework with no small amount of pride. It was now black, with a collar like Genin Ino's and a zipper like Genin Sakura's. He had also taken the short sleeves off and raised the bottom hem, making it look even more like Ino's Genin shirt. Sure, a shirt was a trivial thing compared to what Naruto had accomplished, but it still made him proud of himself.

"Maybe I should do the rest while I'm at it," Naruto spoke to no one but himself.

Throwing his newly sewn shirt on, Naruto placed his hair in a neat low ponytail and headed out the door. Every now and again, he'd throw a cheeky smirk at villagers that gave him the stink-eye. After a rather interesting walk, Naruto arrived at where he needed to go: A small but useful fabric market. Naruto walked up to the nearest clerk, who happened to be Mikoto Uchiha.

"Hey. I'm going to need to buy a few things," Naruto said, a warm smile directed toward his mother's best friend.

"I'm sorry, but I can't sell to a demon," Mikoto replied, a stern glare on her flawless features. Naruto merely continued to smile.

"Do you remember Kushina Uzumaki, Mikoto? The Kushina that died to save her son during the nine-tails' attack; The Kushina that was your _best friend_?"

Mikoto's eyes widened visibly. Who was this child? "How do you know these things? Moreover, how do you know who I am?"

"Simple, Mikoto. I'm Kushina's son, Naruto. Y'know, the one who Kushina died protecting? I don't think she'd appreciate the way you treat me, now would she?" Naruto raised one of his eyebrows, clearly amused with Mikoto's shocked expression.

"I'm not sure if I should believe you. If you give me a good reason, I'll believe it. Oh, no pun intended."

Naruto looked around and stepped forward a half-step. He pointed at his eyes. "Look at my eyes and tell me they don't ring a few bells."

Mikoto gasped. Naruto did act like Kushina from time to time, but she never noticed that he had her eyes. Everything else Naruto had resembled Minato, however: The hair pigmentation, the facial shape, the skin color. Suddenly, it all made sense. Mikoto was merely told that Naruto was the spawn of a demon, no more, no less. She was never told he was a _Jinchuuriki_ before. She was definitely not told that he was Kushina and Minato's son.

"I-I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. Just sell me half a yard of white, black, and red fabric and a small vial of black dye."

Mikoto nodded, gathering the boy's desired items. When Naruto produced a wallet to pay for her services, Mikoto stopped him.

"There's no need to pay. It's the least I can do to apologize for the way I've treated you. The next time you stop by here, it'll all be free, courtesy of Kushina and me," Mikoto smiled brightly, her perfectly-aligned teeth glimmering in the sun.

Naruto retained the smile on his face and started off toward his apartment. After yet another odd walk, the blonde settled down and began to work. By six in the evening, Naruto had made himself quite the outfit. Along with the black shirt, he had created two arm warmers that matched Ino's with the exception of purple being replaced with black, a pair of loose black pants that were bound by wrappings at the bottom, and a white cloth that reached his knees attached to the middle of the upper hem of his pants. The cloth had the Uzumaki clan symbol neatly sewn into the lower middle. He had also turned his blue shoes into black ones to keep his black-and-white look. In place of the mesh undercoat, he had taken the excess white fabric and bound his torso.

"Well, that problem's taken care of. What to do about Gaara…. I can't just wander out the village gates and head for Suna. Or can I?" Naruto said quietly.

After a moment's pondering, Naruto had the perfect idea. "I'll head for Suna in a transformation Jutsu. I'll have to make the person I turn into less known as not to arouse suspicion."

Naruto's thoughts about Jutsu turned to his missions as a Genin, which turned into the Zabuza and Haku mission, which made his mind turn to Inari, which in turn made him think of Tsunami. "Perfect! I'll do a _Henge _of Tsunami. I don't think anyone would recognize me."

He formed a single hand seal and disappeared in a cloud of white smoke. He was replaced with Inari's caretaker, Tsunami. He grinned as he studied his Jutsu, perfect in every way. Ten minutes passed, and in that time he had packed everything he could possibly need-which wasn't much. He had merely packed the leftover fabric-including the red fabric he planned to use for his hitai-ate-and a few other clothes.

Naruto stepped toward the window and opened it. He figured that it would be odd to see a strange woman come out of his apartment, so he decided to leave the ninja way: Through the window. He leapt swiftly through the small window, landing gingerly on his feet.

"Should I have written a note for old man Hokage?" Naruto thought hard at this. He came to a conclusion that it was best for the Hokage to think he had died. The villagers would be celebrating instead of worrying about his whereabouts. He pulled the black cloak he had made from the leftover fabric over his head to further conceal his identity, and ran as fast as he could to the front gates of Konoha. He could sense a presence behind him, so he turned around, ready to fight if necessary. However, standing in front of him was a young girl with dark purple hair that almost looked black. She had fair skin and the eyes of a Hyuga.

"Um…what are y-you doing?" Hinata asked.

Naruto was on cuteness overload at her small voice. "I can't live here anymore. The villagers don't treat me very nicely."

Hinata's face brightened up. "Could I come with you? My father doesn't think I'm talented enough for training. I've always wanted to see the world, too!"

Naruto chuckled slightly. "Well, you can't come with me just yet. If you really want to, I could come back when you're older. You never know what kinds of things you'll encounter on your journeys. In the meantime, you should brush up on your skills."

Hinata nodded eagerly. "What's your name, anyway?"

Naruto looked away slightly. "Well, I'm in a transformation Jutsu. The person I am right now is named Tsunami. The person I am is Naruto."

Hinata's eyes widened at the name. "See? I'm not that bad of a person, am I? The stories of me being some kind of demon are lies to make you stay away from me."

"Why would I need to stay away from you?"

"You'll find out when I come back for you," Naruto said, winking at Hinata.

Hinata blushed and laughed whole-heartedly.

"I have to go now. I need to travel to Suna."

"O-okay. Bye N-Naruto-kun," Hinata said, waving to her newly found friend.

Naruto walked away, happy to hear Hinata's affectionate honorific on his name once more.

Fifteen or so minutes passed, and Naruto was getting frustrated. "Fine." He took out a special kunai he had stolen from the Namikaze-Uzumaki compound before his trip. He threw it with all his strength, and it landed right at the Konoha gates. In a flash of yellow, Naruto was taken to the location of the kunai he'd thrown. Picking it up, he twirled it around a little and stuffed it in his backpack.

"I love being lazy."

As he stepped into the outside world and watched the trees and vegetation turn to sand, he released his Jutsu and couldn't help wondering what Gaara was up to.

Temari POV

"It's your turn, I did it yesterday," Kankuro protested with both his hands up.

Temari put her hands on her hips. "No, that was me!"

"I swear I did it yesterday!"

"That was me!"

"No it wasn't!"

"Yes it was!"

The two were so wrapped up in their quarrel about taking Gaara his food that they didn't notice him walk into the kitchen and take his dinner himself. He even had enough time to eat it in the kitchen, slightly amused by his siblings' banter.

"Why should I have to do it?" Temari demanded.

"Because the woman must always bring the food to the man. That's what dad says," Kankuro stated matter-of-factly.

Behind them, they heard small giggles. Both turned around to see Gaara chewing on a dango, laughing between bites. They were both scared beyond belief.

"Kankuro, if you're going to place an argument, at least make it intelligent," he said, smiling slightly to show his brother and sister he meant no harm.

"W-what? That was intelligent! I learned it from dad!"

"Just because that old man says it, doesn't make it intelligent. Think about it."

With these words, Gaara walked off, plateful of dango in hand. Temari and Kankuro watched in awe as their usually quiet and sort of scary little brother walked back up the stairs, a smirk on his face.

"What…was…._that_?" Temari said, still awestruck.

"Don't ask me!"

Gaara POV

_Operation Freak out my Siblings has been completed. Now commencing Operation Make Kankuro wet Himself_, Gaara thought, a devious grin on his face. Earlier that day, Gaara had made a point to steal some of Temari's old clothing and re-stitch them, making a rather ghastly pink and purple dress. He'd woven the leftover fabric into long, thick strings.

Gaara strutted downstairs, still amused by the looks on his brother and sister's faces. They were too busy staring at him to notice he held a small purple bag in his hand. When he reached the secondary staircase that lead to the first floor, he ominously slowed his pace and walked down the stairs, humming all the way.

When he was sure they were no longer watching him, he pulled two small wooden push-pins from his pocket and unlaced the bag he held. The two scrap-strings were taken out of the bag and placed on the wall, fastened with the two push-pins he made. He unlaced the bag further to reveal the pink and purple dress that would seal Kankuro's fate. Gaara tied the small ends of the cloth strings to the pink sleeves of the dress. Admiring his work ethic, he strolled back up the stairs, taking a banana from the counter and peeling it on the way back. After he finished, Gaara placed the peel just at the top of the staircase while eating the banana.

"Perfect," Gaara whispered. "I think Operation Make Kankuro wet Himself will go nicely, and just as planned."

The short redhead knocked on the side walls of the staircase. "Kankuro-niichan, could you come help me with Academy work?"

Hesitantly, Kankuro walked to the stairway ever so slowly. Gaara had never asked him for help, nor has he ever called him 'niichan', so naturally Kankuro was startled.

Five minutes passed, and Gaara was growing impatient. "Niichan, hurry up! I—ah! There's a rogue ninja in my room, help!" Gaara did his best imitation of a helpless child under attack by a spider.

Kankuro instantly hurried his pace, not bothering to remember the fact that his little brother could easily fend off the ninja by himself.

"Gaara, wha—!" The puppet master had no time to react before he slipped on a banana peel rather clumsily and cascaded down the stairs only to be lodged in a strange and uncomfortable piece of cloth that seemed to be hanging between the walls.

"What…happened?" Kankuro looked down to see himself in a dress that belonged on a Barbie doll instead of a person. He started fuming. "Gaara…"

Temari rushed over to the stairs to see what the racket was about. She took one look at her brother and literally keeled over laughing. "Kankuro…aha! You...you look like a…doll!" she said between laughs.

Gaara peeked around the corner, happy at the sight of his blushing brother and his hysterical sister. He couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"Kankuro-niichan, if I were in danger, would I call for help so pathetically? And how would someone my age know a rogue ninja when I saw one?" Gaara tried to conceal the fact that he was technically twenty. "Though I do appreciate the genuine concern."

Kankuro continued to blush profusely, thoroughly embarrassed, while Temari was still engulfed in her fits of hysterical laughing. To Gaara, it was contagious.

Gaara walked back up the stairs and up the next flight, leaving his comical siblings behind.

The Jinchuuriki closed his bedroom door behind him, locking it as to ensure no intruders would be able to get in. He sat on his bed and let out a weary sigh as he remembered that he can't sleep because he's a Jinchuuriki again. Sleeping would open Shukaku's gates enough so he could take complete and utter control over his helpless body.

It was then that Gaara noticed the date.

"Yashamaru…" Gaara whispered. Today was the day that Yashamaru, Gaara's uncle, betrayed him. Or at least, that's what he'd thought. As it turns out, Yashamaru really did care for his nephew. Finding the truth of his uncle during the war between ninja and the Akatsuki, Gaara found his undying hate for his father rising at an alarming pace. Because of him, Gaara had to live a life consisting of spilt blood and anguish. But what could he do? He couldn't change the past…until now.

"I suppose it's worth a shot, now isn't it?"

The redhead left his bed and climbed out his window, using the cracks in the slab on the house as stepping stones to get him onto the roof. He sat in the same spot he did when Yashamaru snuck up on him with the intent to kill.

Sure enough, about twenty minutes after arrival on the roof, Gaara heard footsteps. Before, he couldn't hear anything because he was inexperienced at Shinobi arts. However, after refining his skills for nearly fifteen years, footsteps were easily detectable and traceable.

Slowly, Yashamaru began to step toward Gaara unsteadily.

_Easy…wait a moment…just a little further…now. _Gaara stood up, much to Yashamaru's surprise.

"Of all people to try and kill me, you're the one I least expected, uncle. Tell me, how long have you been planning this?"

Yashamaru, intrigued by the small boy's intelligence, responded at least a minute later. "Orders of the Kazekage."

"Surely it wasn't voluntary? You had no choice, right?" Gaara retained his monotone voice.

"I had a choice. It would be my honor to be the one to kill you."

When Gaara said nothing, Yashamaru continued. "Ever since you were born, I've wanted to kill you. You're the one who killed my dear sister, Karura. And for that, I hate you. She must've hated you as well, for she didn't name you out of love, she named you out of hatred of what you'd become."

Gaara held up his undersized hand, signaling to Yashamaru to stop there. When he turned around, Yashamaru couldn't contain a gasp. Gaara had a warm smile plastered on his face.

"One must always speak the truth, don't you know that? I can see right through it."

Yashamaru took a step back. "It's not a lie! I want to kill you!"

Gaara's grin just got wider. "Silly uncle Yashamaru. You didn't have any choice. You don't really want to kill me. This is all a test to see if I will break down and lose control. You don't want to disgrace my mother, yet you act on my father's orders to quite possible turn me into an emotional wreck. It's not going to happen."  
Gaara took a step forward. "You love me, and you know it. Indeed, there was a time when I didn't know what love was, but thanks to a friend, I've figured it out," Gaara said, referring to Naruto's speech about how the people around him saved him from himself. "Thanks to him, I've learned to love Temari and Kankuro. And even you, Yashamaru."

Yashamaru fell to his knees. When did Gaara learn so much about the Kazekage's plans? Needless to say, this bugged him to no end. Gaara knelt beside him, smile still on his face.

"Deliver this message to my father: It is not the demon within that guides the flow, it is the spirit and will of another's soul that gives control."

After a while, Yashamaru nodded and leapt into the night, headed for the Kage tower.

_Naruto…I hope your choice was the correct one_.

Naruto POV Insert 2-Day Timeskip Here

Naruto had been traveling on foot to his best friend's village for two days now. He had wound up stripping off his shirt and arm warmers, leaving him in bindings and shorts. Still, the heat was almost too much for him. If it wasn't for Gaara, Temari, and Sasuke, he would've never thought of such a thing as traveling through a desert in winter-styled clothing.

The blonde felt his backpack again to see if it was melting because of the heat. _Still solid…for now_, he thought. Soon after leaving his village, Naruto traveled back, packing more than he did beforehand. He had added three canteens of water, a few Jutsu scrolls, and he'd even managed to steal the Scroll of Seals from the Kage tower. It'd get him into a lot of trouble, but it would be worth it. After all, it would make the fight between him and Pein much easier. The scroll was currently hanging on his back, just like Jiraiya wore his scroll.

_I wonder what Gaara's chakra type is. I guess I'll have to ask him once I get out of this stupid desert_. Much to Naruto's pleasure, he could see Suna's gates up ahead.

_Judging by the distance, I'd take a gander that I'll be up there in about five minutes_.

After thirty seconds, he couldn't take in any longer. He took Minato's old kunai and threw it as far as possible and _Hiraishin-d _to it multiple times, falling on his haunches more times than he'd like to tell. Needless to say, his rump was quite sore by the time he arrived at the gates.

_I really have to work on that Jutsu_, Naruto thought, slightly aggravated.

He looked up at the Suna gates, wondering what came next. It wasn't as if he could simply stroll in there with a backpack, a giant scroll, and suspicious clothing on. No, he'd have to be stealthier than that. Somehow, he'd have to use a transformation Jutsu to disguise himself. After a moment's thinking, Naruto had the perfect plan: sneak into Suna disguised as Temari to meet up with Gaara. He mentally face-palmed for not thinking this through too well. He formed the hand seal for the Jutsu, and instantly transformed into his future secret girlfriend, Temari.

It was always easier to transform into the younger Temari than the older because the younger didn't have the giant fan on her back all the time. She wouldn't obtain the weapon until after her Genin graduation.

_I'll have to try out a weapon like that sometime. It may be of use to me later on_.

'Temari' started off into Suna, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. There were some whispers about the fact that she had walked in through the gates without her team, but nothing too extreme.

Naruto remembered where Gaara lived, since he's been to Suna on numerous occasions for missions and such, so he easily recognized his home when he finally came across it.

Then arose another problem: how to get Gaara's attention without drawing attention to himself? He punched the wall, slightly cracking it. He really didn't think a lot of this through.

Suddenly, he remembered when Gaara's team and Naruto's team met together for a mission. Naruto had thrown a rock at him as a 'greeting'. Maybe something like that would work.

Naruto, being almost as lazy as Shikamaru, decided he would try out his newly discovered bloodline. He held his hand out in the direction of a small rock, focusing all his chakra to his hand. "Bansho Ten'in." With these words, the rock flew into Naruto's hand. He tossed it from his left hand to his right, whistling.

"I'm starting to like my Rinnegan here," he said quietly.

When he was nineteen, a mysterious bloodline crept up on him during his sleep. He ran to the mirror to see only his right eye had been affected by the bloodline. It was quite odd, with its purple tint and black circular lines, but somehow it made him feel more powerful. While he could not de-activate his right Rinnegan, he could switch the left Rinnegan on and off as if it were a light switch in his head. He only activated the left when it was absolutely and utterly needed.

He threw the pebble up to a window that said 'Gaara's Bedroom' all over it (A/N: Not really xD). With a single _ting_, the window was opened slowly to reveal a rather short redhead with pale green eyes and fair skin.

"Temari?" Gaara asked, totally confused.

"No, no, it's me, Naruto!" 'Temari' said from below.

Gaara's face lit up. "Naruto! I was wondering how long it would take you to get here. How many timed did you have to use _Hiraishin_, hm?"

"Once or twice…"

"…"

"Or maybe four or five."

"…"

"Six or seven?"

"…"

"Alright! I used _Hiraishin _seventeen times. Happy now?"

"Very. C'mon up here, I'm not going to bite. Plus, I've got a few things for you."

"Hey, I do too! Here, catch," Naruto replied, tossing Gaara one of Minato's kunai.

Gaara dropped the kunai on the floor just before Naruto was transported to it.

"That's a huge waste of chakra, Naruto."

"Yeah, yeah, I understand that. It's just so much fun, though!"

Naruto released his Jutsu, returning to his original form. Gaara studied him quite thoroughly, from his black shoes to the blonde hair that could be considered a solar flare.

"How is it that I'm taller than you at this point?" Gaara asked.

Naruto walked up to Gaara to compare heights. He seemed about three inches shorter than him. Naruto felt like crying.

Gaara merely laughed.

Naruto backed into a corner, sobbing. "I'm back to being the blonde midget, aren't I?"

"Yup."

Naruto promptly fell over, obviously unsatisfied with the answer he received. One word continued to run through his mind:

Dwarf.

**And thus ends the first chapter. Hope y'all enjoyed that first chapter…it took me about an hour, so I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't ^^"**

***Yes, that's a Higurashi no Naku Koro ni reference.**

**Always willing for suggestions on what to happen next, though I'll probably be updating very quickly. **

**For later plans in the story, Temari's weapon will NOT be a fan. I'm going to make her a water user to balance Naruto and Gaara out. Her weapon could either be a flute like Tayuya's or Senbon Needles like Kin. I'm still debating here…**

**Ciao! ~NaruIno367**


	2. Chapter 2 Introductions and Kinjutsu

Guess who's back? NaruIno367 here, with an update to her favorite story 3

Please please PLEEEAAASSSEE review for me? I'd like to hear what my readers think of me.

Disclaimer: I stand by what I said before about not owning Naruto or the characters in it. If I owned Naruto, why would I be writing fanfiction to begin with?

Gaara POV

About two minutes ago, Naruto Namikaze made his way into Gaara's bedroom after traveling back in time about thirteen years. Currently, he was rolling around on the floor ranting about his stature. Gaara was slightly annoyed, but relieved nonetheless to see his old friend.

"I'm so short they probably wouldn't let me on the amusement park rides in Iwa…" Naruto said, pouting and rolling on the floor.

"If it makes you feel better, you'll be taller than me soon enough. Last time I checked, you were almost as tall as Lee-san during the war. And that's seriously saying something," Gaara replied, rubbing his temples.

"But that's so long from now!"

"It's still going to happen," Gaara said, walking over to a small chest in the corner of his room. "I still have a few things for you."

Naruto's ears perked up, eager to see what the redhead had for him.

After some digging, Gaara found what he was looking for. He closed the chest and turned around to reveal a small black notebook with elaborate gold tips. He handed it to Naruto, a smug smirk on his face.

He hesitantly took it from Gaara, suspicious because of the look in his eye. He opened it and immediately started laughing. The notebook was actually a scrapbook, filled with various pictures Gaara had taken in secret. A few of Naruto's favorites were a collection of photos of Kankuro in a pink and purple dress, obviously trying to hide it. Another was a picture of Temari with pink hair. She was looking into a mirror, dressed only in a white towel while staring in the mirror. The look on her face only made Naruto laugh harder. The best one by far was one of Yashamaru with overly opaque purple eyeshade, bright red lipstick, and overly applied pink blush. His hair was kept in pigtails, two pink bows holding them in place.

After his fit of hysterical laughing alongside Gaara, Naruto somehow managed to speak. "H-how did you…manage to pull…that off with…Yashamaru?"

"He was…asleep…at the…time," Gaara replied, still laughing at the obscene photo of his uncle.

Naruto was about to reply when a door opened, revealing Temari clad in a short purple kimono, a red sash, and blue Shinobi sandals. Her hair was down, making her all the more attractive to Naruto. He always liked her hair down.

Temari pointed her finger at the blonde in front of her. "Aha! I knew there was more than one person in Gaara's room! Now tell me who you are before I encase you in a gigantic ice cube!"

Naruto, still dazed at the sight of Temari, stood up a while after the question. "I'm Naruto. You don't need to know my last name just yet. I'm sorry if I seem to be intruding, but I wanted to see a close friend of mine," he said, bowing before the girl in front of him.

Temari merely blinked. She hadn't expected the boy to be so polite, nor so compliant. Most people would have fainted from looking at her famed Death Glare. However, this boy seemed unfazed by it. Somehow, it seemed as if he'd seen it before. On top of that, he was ridiculously pretty for a boy.

"Um…I guess you're okay…" Temari said, slightly at a loss for words.

Naruto released his bowing pose and replaced it with a casual stance and a warm smile. The very sight of it made Temari's inner self melt while her outer self kept her cool.

"Now then, would you like to learn more about my blonde friend here, nee-chan?" Gaara asked, a happy tune in his voice.

Temari, still getting over the fact that her brother's personality had changed drastically in the past few days, nodded slowly, still not trusting him completely. Needless to say, Gaara saw straight through her poker face.

"If you'd like, you could bring Kankuro up here. I'm sure he'd like to meet Blondie." This earned a tick mark on Naruto's head.

"O-of course…I'll be right back."  
Temari trudged down the stairs quickly, eager to see the look on Kankuro's face when she tells him the news of Gaara having a 'close friend'. Gaara turned to Naruto, a serious look on his face.

"Don't try anything with her just yet," he gave Naruto a death glare, making him shudder.

"Why would I try anything when I'm just six and she's still eight? That'd be just weird," he replied, a small blush dusted on his cheeks.

"You better not…" the look on Gaara's face said 'Mess with my Sister and I'll Castrate you and Rip you to Shreds'. Naruto got the message and backed further into the corner, shivering.

Temari POV

"Hey, Kankuro! Come upstairs, I have to show you something! Or rather, some_one_…" Temari shouted from the bottom of the stairs, correcting herself at her minor mistake. Kankuro turned around to face his sister, one eyebrow raised at the odd look she was giving him.

Despite his better judgment, Kankuro followed his elder sister up the stairs to Gaara's room.

"Why are we here exactly?"

"Shut up and look in his room, you dope!"

Kankuro complied, turning his head toward his little brother's room. Inside he saw his brother sitting across from a boy with very long blonde hair which covered one of his eyes. Half of his clothes were discarded and he looked sweaty, signifying that he had traveled a long way to visit Gaara. Next to him was a giant scroll with red ribbons attached to it, presumably for travel convenience. A diminutive scroll stood next to it, and he could sense more than five objects inside it. But the strange boy wasn't Kankuro's worry. In reality, it was his brother that took him by surprise. For the first time in his life, he actually saw Gaara _smiling_. On top of that, he was _laughing_. _Gaara_! The red-haired green-eyed slightly psychotic boy who scared the crap out of him and Temari!

"You see what I see, right?" Kankuro asked, turning toward Temari.

"This is exactly why I brought you up here. Well, I guess not _exactly_. I suppose some of it was Gaara's request. He's the one who suggested I take you up here for an introduction to his little friend there," she replied, a cross between a confused and worried look on her face.

Gaara caught them from the corner of his eye and turned to face them, smile still in place. "Now now, just like I told Naruto, I won't bite. Come in, it's time for some introductions."

The pair hesitantly stepped in the doorway, Kankuro closing the door behind them even though they were alone in the house. It'd always been a habit of his to step into a room and close the door behind him, no matter who was in the house. Kankuro sat down next to Gaara while Temari plopped down near his friend.

"Now then, I suppose you both want to know about senpai here," Gaara said, pointing his thumb in Naruto's direction.

Naruto snapped his sights on Gaara, annoyed with the 'senpai' remark. "I thought I told you not to call me senpai. It makes me feel older than I really am." (A/N: How ironic xD)

Gaara and Naruto had a bit of a staredown while Temari and Kankuro watched in awe. Finally, Gaara cleared his throat and began to speak again. "His name is Naruto Namikaze. He's from Konoha, but he made his way through the desert to come over here. We've been friends for longer than you think, and I'm not giving you any numbers. While he's not the smartest but not the dumbest, he's the only person of his age group who can rupture the ground with his index finger*. He's also as fast as light, and I'm not kidding."

Naruto, blushing at the praise he received, motioned to Kankuro. "I'd like to know a bit about you and Temari, if you don't mind."

Kankuro's face lit up. It'd been a long time since someone actually wanted to know something about him. "I'm Kankuro Sabakuno. Since no one really knows our last names, we made a surname out of the Sabaku no in Sabaku no Gaara. I've taken an interest in puppetry, and I hope to make a weapon out of it in the future. I think it'd be pretty useful. I like to experiment with chemicals to see what happens. Although that's not the safest of things because one time I accidentally blew up the basement doing it, it's pretty fun. I don't like freaks who wear too much makeup and look like Kabuki dancers* and people who are too ignorant to understand life. Oh, sorry, I think I'm ranting a bit. Temari, why don't you say a bit about yourself?"

"Well then, I'm Temari Sabakuno. Lately I've looked into weapons such as fans and chakrams, but I haven't found anything that calls to me quite yet. I've been told that I have two chakra types: Wind and Water. I heard that Wind is pretty rare in Suna, but Water is even rarer. I still haven't chosen which element I'd rather use, though I'm leaning toward Water. I like to read and practice Jutsu and I don't like people who are too full of their own abilities to see their weaknesses," Temari said, slightly out of breath.

Naruto smiled in response. "Ah, any dreams for the future maybe?"

"I kind of want to work with chemicals to help the medical ninja with their duties later on," Kankuro said, a small glint in his eyes.

"I don't really have any dreams past finding a boyfriend sooner or later," Temari said, snorting.

Naruto raised his eyebrows for a split second before he had to lower them again due to the killer aura emanating from Gaara.

"Remember what I said earlier, Naruto…"

Naruto gulped and nodded. Gaara could be scary when it came to Temari. It was still a wonder he didn't kill him when he found out Temari was pregnant because of his protectiveness.

"What about you?"

Naruto turned to Temari, who had a slight blush on her face and sparkling eyes that screamed 'I Want to Date you so Freaking bad'. "Well, I suppose it would be to protect those around me until the day I die."

Naruto's response startled Temari slightly. _He's got a heart more pure than an angel's, yet I sense a sort of darkness from him_, she thought. _It's almost as if it doesn't belong to him directly, but is a part of him somehow. His chakra seems bright and cheerful, but there's a demonic underbelly._

Kankuro turned to Gaara cautiously. "Hey, Gaara? Do you have any wishes for the future you haven't told us about?"

Gaara turned to his brother, surprise written on his face clearly. No one had ever asked him that before, and it felt weird to have someone finally ask. "Well, I guess I'd want to be a medical ninja. Instead of harming people with a knife, I'd be able to save them with one. Maybe then they'd recognize me."

Temari and Kankuro's eyes widened. Gaara wanted to be a medical ninja? That was the last thing they'd expect him to tell them. Naruto merely grinned. In his past life, Gaara had learned a few medical Ninjutsu to aid him in combat. Since then, he'd wanted to learn more about medicine to heal the innocent as well as the guilty if necessary. He always said, 'if a life can be taken with a scalpel, a life can be saved with one as well'. That always was his favorite thing to say.

After a silence that left the room quite stuffy, Kankuro gave in to his curiosity. "Naruto, what's in that giant scroll you have there?" he asked, motioning to the Scroll of Seals.

"Don't tell anyone, but it's filled with A-Ranked and S-Ranked Kinjutsu. It was sealed away by the first Hokage due to the Jutsu inside. I managed to steal it on my way over here so I could thumb through the Jutsu."

Kankuro and Temari gasped. That seemingly harmless scroll had powerful Kinjutsu inside? It was nearly unbelievable.

Temari asked the question on everyone but Naruto's mind. "What kind of Jutsu are in there? Can you name a few of them?"

Naruto closed his eyes and smiled. After a moment, he snapped them open, startling everyone but Gaara. "Well, for one there's the _Shadow Clone Jutsu_. It lets you make solid copies of yourself. Everything the clone sees and does is transmitted to the original after it disappears. Though, if you use too many and they dispel all at once, you could die from it. That's why it's in the Scroll of Seals."

Temari and Kankuro got closer to Naruto, waiting eagerly for him to continue on.

"And there's also a Jutsu Temari might like to learn. It's the _Front Lotus_. It's primarily Taijutsu, and it's devastating. Let me tell you, I'd hate to be on the receiving end of _that _Jutsu. It's even more powerful if you use another Kinjutsu first: the _Eight Chakra Gates_. It temporarily lets all your chakra through with no limits when they're opened. It's pretty complicated but really strong, too. I'd bet you'd be twice as powerful if I were to teach it to you sometime, Temari."

Temari snickered at the thought of being twice as powerful as she was right now. Then, she noticed his last sentence. "Wait, you said if _you _taught it to me. Does that mean you know how to perform those Jutsu?" she asked, slightly confused.

"Yeah, it takes a lot of training to perform. It doesn't take chakra the same way Ninjutsu and Genjutsu do, but it takes a lot of stamina from you. You'd need rest on the spot after using it."

Kankuro pointed to himself, eager to see what Naruto had to say. "Anything in there suitable for me?"

"Well, what's your chakra type?"

"I'm Lightning."

"Then there's a Jutsu I made that might be good for you."

Kankuro's jaw nearly fell off. "Y-you have a J-Jutsu in there and y-you're only s-six?"

"Yep. It's the _Blood Shock Jutsu_. In a nutshell, you focus a reasonable amount of chakra, form it into Lightning-style chakra, and focus it into your fingertips and hit the enemy one of their veins. Once your chakra hits their bloodstream, the victim's blood begins to shock them with powerful and painful waves of electricity. This renders their body useless for further combat and may be fatal if used correctly."

"A-amazing! I'd really like to learn that Jutsu someday!"

Naruto smiled. He turned to Gaara, who had been watching with awe and anticipation as to what his friend had in store for him. "Well, what's your chakra type, anyway? I never really knew."

"Earth and Fire. A pretty good combo, wouldn't you think?" Gaara replied, smirking at his chakra types.

"Hah, that's pretty lucky. I've made another Jutsu called the _Wildfire Jutsu_. All in all, it turns the ground into flammable mud, which is so sticky that it holds the opponent in place. You'd focus your chakra to your lungs, morph it into Fire chakra, and breathe out as hard as you can, sending a huge fireball toward the opponent. Once the fire touches the mud, it'll cause a minor explosion, killing the target quickly but not painlessly. The fire burns for a long time afterward, so _Wildfire Jutsu _was a fitting name for it," Naruto explained.

"Woah. That's really awesome. It almost makes me want to give up on being a medical ninja. Of course, I'd never do that. Hey, do you know any medical Jutsu that I can learn? I've been dying to find a new one."

"You've found the right person, then. I have a few medical Ninjutsu under my belt I could teach you. The most basic one I know is the _Mystical Palm Jutsu_. You focus your chakra to your hands and send out a healing vibe. This specific Jutsu requires precise chakra control, so you'd be fine using it. It's common for medical ninja to know that Jutsu. Once you get higher up, maybe I'll teach you some more," he replied, grinning sheepishly.

"That'd be great…" Gaara said, staring off into space.

Naruto slumped farther down on the dresser he was leaning against, clearly tired. Temari looked at Kankuro and saw that he was fast asleep. Looking at the clock, the young Sand girl noticed that the four had been talking and sharing Jutsu for three hours! She glanced at Gaara. He was leaning against his bed, dozing off but careful not to go to sleep. She heard the faintest of snores next to her. She turned her head and saw Naruto lying on the floor, sleeping. Temari dutifully removed a sheet from Gaara's bed and placed it over Kankuro. She removed another and sprawled it over Naruto.

"Always the big sister, right?" Temari said softly, covering Gaara though she knew he was still awake.

She turned again to look at the blonde boy behind her. She couldn't help that notice his figure was rather feminine in comparison to Gaara and Kankuro, and that his hair always seemed to be in perfect alignment. Upon closer inspection, she noticed his eyelashes were longer than most boys'. She blushed noting that he was insanely pretty. Inner Temari began to surface in her mind.

"**Well? C'mon, the boy's practically defenseless! You know we want to take him, so do it! There's got to be some restraints nearby…"**

Temari hit herself over the head for thinking about that kind of thing at her age. The next twenty minutes were dedicated to watching Naruto sleep, which seemed sort of perverted to Temari but it was worth it.

"**Rip his clothes off, rip his clothes off, rip his clothes off."**

_Shut up, shut up, SHUT UP! _Temari screamed at her inner self.

She let out a weary sigh and took her shoes off. She pulled Naruto's blanket over herself and lie back-to-back with him, comforted by the rising and falling of his chest.

Yawning, Temari turned the light off and closed her eyes to sleep, not caring that she was lying on a hardwood floor, and not even caring what happened in the morning when the other three found her sleeping position. She didn't quite understand it, but something drew her to Naruto.

Maybe it was love?

**YAAAY! I spent HOURS working on this! I was up until two in the morning trying to finish on time! The extra hours were worth it, though.**

***Reference to Tsunade vs. Naruto.**

***I put that there for irony.**

**I have a sort of fetish of Naruto with uber-long hair. I don't know why, but I really like it when Naruto has long hair and awesome outfits. I especially like it when he has piercings in his ears, like in this story where he has silver earrings that look like Ino's. I'll be sure to put in detailed character descriptions in the next chapter for those who're curious as to what all of them look like. **

**What do you think, Gaara as a medic? Does it fit? I didn't want it to be Naruto or Temari, so I figured Gaara would be alright. Leave a review! Ciao ~NaruIno367**


	3. Chapter 3 Escort

Since I didn't update Chapter 2 as quickly as I wanted to, I'm putting this one out even earlier. Chapter 4 will be getting into things like Sakuragakure's founding. If you don't know what that is, you didn't read the summary.

Chapter 3 –This chapter has mention of the Chunin exams in it, but not the one with the invasion. It's my own version of the Chunin exams in Suna. For those of you wondering why Water for Temari, it's because I didn't want two Winds and an Earth/Fire. That'd be too imbalanced. So I figured, since she's originally Wind, she'd be able to condense the Water in the Air.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the characters involved.

Naruto POV –Six Month Time Skip—

For the past six months, Naruto had been teaching his friends in Suna various Kinjutsu as well as regular Ninjutsu, Taijutsu, and Genjutsu. Since their training was to be kept secret, Naruto created a sound and sight proof seal that blocked anyone outside the barrier from seeing or hearing the actions inside. Naruto had enrolled in the academy there by Gaara's wishes, so he was technically a Suna Shinobi. Gaara managed to con the school's teachers into adding Naruto into his class even though it was a second-year class.

This time around, Naruto and Gaara decided that they'd graduate a lot earlier than they did beforehand in order to made the Chunin Exam invasion six years from then easier. By that time, they'd hoped to be at least Jonin, and therefore put alongside other Jonin rather than Genin and Chunin.

Luckily enough, after discovering and beating up a rogue Chunin, he, Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro were all made Genin. To most, it came as a surprise to have two six-year-olds, an eight-year-old and a nine-year-old become Genin, but to others it didn't come as a shock. Such people included Yashamaru and the Fourth Kazekage, who had foreseen the event due to the power they'd shown in the past.

After the graduation, Temari finally found her weapon of choice: a small wooden flute. By focusing her chakra into her lungs and blowing out, she could produce sounds to place her enemies in a Genjutsu only breakable by very powerful Genjutsu users such as Kurenai Yuhi. Naruto told her of a ninja known as Tayuya who also used a flute, and trained her based on Tayuya's weaknesses and strengths. However, he never told her the true meaning of her flute training.

Kankuro managed to build a puppet that had poison darts in the palms of its hands, senbon needles all around its limbs, and-with Naruto's help-a chemical mechanism that shot poisonous gas from it. Since Naruto wasn't adept with puppets, Kankuro had to go elsewhere to train. After consulting Baki about it, he was sent to an old friend of his that knew all about puppetry. About a week later, he finally got the hang of using chakra strings to control his puppets' every move. He still had yet to learn _Blood Shock Jutsu_, but he did know a few Jutsu that scared even Temari.

After learning the _Mystical Palm Jutsu_ for healing convenience, Gaara wandered the village trying to find a medical instructor who wasn't afraid of him. It took traveling to five different hospitals, but he somehow found a teacher who would willingly instruct him in medicinal arts. His sensei, Yura, was nothing less but shocked when he healed the dead fish he was given in less than five seconds. She was even more shocked to see that it had made a full recovery, not a partial one like most medical students created. Since Yura couldn't be at the hospital every day to train Gaara, he opted to be trained by Yashamaru when Yura wasn't in the hospital. It soon became apparent that Yashamaru was more experienced than Yura, so to speed up his training as a medical ninja, he trained with him in the evenings after instruction from Yura.

Naruto, seeing as he wasn't highly proficient in Taijutsu in his past life, decided he'd refine his skills as much as possible. Since he had a good reputation in Suna, it didn't take long to convince someone to train him. His sensei, after a short while, was revealed to have the highest Taijutsu level in the Land of Wind. On top of that, his strength and speed was high enough to put Tsunade's punches and Lee without his weights to shame. Needless to say (A/N: I seem to say that a lot, don't I?) Naruto improved quickly, to the point of having a fifty percent chance of beating his sensei in an all-out Taijutsu battle, and that was seriously _saying something _given his age and his sensei's skills.

A few days after their graduation, Naruto was pleased to hear that he'd been assigned to a team alongside Gaara and Temari. Shortly after being assigned a Jonin sensei, Team 4 took the final Genin examination: survival training. Everyone in Suna was surprised to hear that Team 4 had set a new record in finishing: five minutes. It was quite an interesting experience…

(Flashback: Mikan POV)

"_Okay then, it looks like you've all shown up. Did any of you eat breakfast?" Mikan Tofune asked her team._

"_I didn't, Mikan-sensei. I don't understand why Gaara and Naruto-kun did, though," Temari said, crossing her arms._

_Mikan turned to face them. "Well, let's hear it. Why'd you eat when I specifically told you not to?"_

_Naruto smirked. "I always eat. Besides, I've heard that most survival training exams take your lunch and won't give it back unless you complete the exam."_

"_I've also heard a few things about the Genin exams," Gaara said with a poker face. "The one student who doesn't pass gets tied to a post without eating their lunch. Don't you think that's a bit harsh, Mikan-sensei?"_

_Mikan frowned. _They're smart. It almost feels like they've gone through this before. But that can't be, they're mere Genin. _She snorted. "You're only six and you've already got me all figured out. I like you guys."_

_Gaara and Naruto chuckled a bit while Temari crossed her arms and tapped her foot. "Come on, I really want to try out this flute I got from Naruto-kun," she said, growing impatient._

_Mikan sighed. Of all the people in the academy, she had to get a girly boy, a Jinchuuriki, and a stubborn and impatient girl. It would seem as if luck wasn't on her side. She'd hoped to get three powerful Genin, seeing as she was quite possibly the strongest person in Suna next to the Kazekage. These guys just seemed weird._

"_Well then, you'll have to take these," Mikan said, holding up two small bells. "I took the method from Kakashi Hatake in Konoha. The objective is to take the bells forcefully. Whichever one of you fails to take one from me gets tied to a post without their lunch, just as Gaara stated. Now then, if you're all ready, you can start."_

_Before Mikan's sentence could be finished, the three Genin shot off like rockets into the bushes. She was surprised at their speed. What surprised her even more was that they all went in the same direction. Normally, they'd split up and say 'every man for himself'. Mikan smirked. _This team's different from the others I've had…maybe they'll actually pass?

_Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a barely audible note on a flute. Almost instantly, she felt her legs stiffen until they couldn't move._

"_Genjutsu?" she said, wondering what happened. She placed her hands together to try and release the Genjutsu, but nothing happened._

_Before she could contemplate how to break it, she saw Gaara running toward her at breakneck speed. About ten feet away from her, he leapt into the air and formed ten hand seals. He put his hand to his mouth and breathed out, expelling a harsh gas which wasn't lethal but put anyone who breathed it into a paralyzed state. Mikan began to feel dizzy._

That's medical Ninjutsu. It's only used by the most talented medics. Why would a six-year-old know it? _Mikan thought. She began to feel sick to her stomach as she unwillingly continued to breathe in the toxic gas. _

_Sensing a presence behind her, she turned her head to see Naruto racing toward her. He held out his hand to show strange markings on his palm. His fingertips seemed to have static electricity emanating from them._

"_This'll be it, Mikan-sensei: _Blood Shock Jutsu_!" Naruto said. He plunged all five of his fingers into Mikan's neck, sending pulses of electricity through her bloodstream. Though it hurt as much as a million dollars looked good, Mikan could tell it wasn't at full strength. She told herself to stay on Naruto's good side._

_Soon, she couldn't hold back. She let out an ear-piercing scream before all paralysis Jutsu were released and she fell to the ground unconscious. Temari stepped out from the bushes to stand next to Gaara and Naruto._

"_Well, what now?" she asked, taking the bells from her. "I didn't expect her to be so easy to take down."_

_Naruto's face brightened noticeably."I have an idea!"_

_Gaara and Temari turned their heads to Naruto expectantly. He motioned for them to come closer. Once his plan was explained, they all shared mischievious glances and snickers as they picked Mikan off the floor and started carrying her to the posts._

_Fifteen minutes later, Mikan opened her eyes to see Naruto, Gaara, and Temari eating their lunches and smiling at her._

"_Good morning, Mikan-sensei. Have a nice nap?" Gaara said all too sweetly._

"_W-what happened? Where am…" Mikan looked down to see that she was tied to the pole with a rope. The Genin merely laughed._

_Memories of what happened suddenly came back to her and she felt nothing shy of embarrassed at being beat by two six-year-olds and a nine-year-old. Her blush was replaced with a grin when she realized just how much she'd underestimated them. "You know what?" she asked, her short purple hair flowing in the breeze._

_Her Genin squad looked up at her, expecting good news._

"_You three make one heck of a paralysis team. At this rate, you could probably take down even the Kazekage. And that's why I'm happy to say you've passed. Starting tomorrow, you're Team 4, led by Mikan Tofune."_

_Temari punched the air above her. "Finally, some respect! I love this team! Thanks a bunch, Mikan-sensei."_

_Mikan smiled in return. "In fact, I think you've even set a new record. Aha, I'm seriously thinking you guys should be Chunin rather than Genin right now. I guess you'll represent Suna in the Chunin exams this year."_

_Gaara and Naruto looked at each other. "It looks like we'll be the youngest Chunin Suna's seen in a long time, right Gaara?"_

_Gaara nodded in response. "I guess so."_

_Temari poked Naruto in the ribs. "Hey, I'll be a young Chunin, too!"_

"_Yeah, but you're three years older than us."_

"_I still deserve some spotlight!" _

"_Not as much as I do!"_

_Mikan stared at her students in amusement. It always seemed that those you underestimate were the most powerful in the end. _

(End Flashback: Back to Naruto POV)

"Hey Naruto-kun, wake up," Temari said, snapping her fingers in front of Naruto's face.

"W-What is it?" he replied, rubbing his eyes lightly.

"You were daydreaming. Come on, Mikan-sensei is taking us on a C-Rank mission. If we complete it, we'll be representing Suna in the Chunin exams in five days."

"I thought she said we were already going to represent Suna."

"Well, we have to complete ten D-Rank missions before we can go, so Mikan-sensei convinced the Kazekage to give us a C-Rank to make up for all the D-Rank missions we haven't done. Now get up, it's time to go."

"What're we doing?"

"We're escorting some snot-nosed brat back to Konoha."

Naruto groaned. He'd had missions like this before. They weren't fun in the least bit.

He looped his red hitai-ate around his waist and tied it in the back. He strapped a black scroll with gold borders onto his back with a gray string. Temari didn't know what was inside and Naruto refused to tell her, but it seemed important because he always carried it with him.

Temari tied his hair in a high ponytail as opposed to his normal low ponytail. "I think we should head out now."

Naruto blushed slightly at Temari putting up his hair, but nodded in response and started heading out the door.

Mikan POV

Mikan Tofune rubbed her temples. She'd only been around this little brat for five minutes and already she felt like tearing her head off.

"And I want a pony and a crown and some jewels-OH! And I want some candy, a chocolate factory, and unlimited money!" the pink-haired, green-eyed girl next to her exclaimed.

"That's great, Sakura. Now could you stop talking?"

"No! I want you to give me everything I just listed and even more!" Sakura pouted.

"Just leave me alone! Kami, you're annoying!"

Sakura burst into tears. "Mi-Mi doesn't like me!"

"Damn straight I don't!"

Just then, the door opened to reveal Temari, Gaara, and Naruto. She could've sworn she saw Naruto's eyes widen at the sight of Sakura, but she quickly brushed it off.

"Thank Kami you're here! Let's hurry up and go before my hair turns white," Mikan said, clearly relieved at the sight of her Genin team.

"Well, someone's in a hurry. Alright…hey, what's your name, anyway?" Temari asked, her hands on her hips.

"Sakura Haruno. You guys don't look strong enough to protect me. I don't think you'd even be able to lay a finger on Sasuke-kun!" Sakura said, a dreamy look in her eye.

"I can tell this won't turn out well. Temari, would you do the honors?" Gaara asked, pinching the bridge of his nose. He hadn't been around the girl for a minute and he was already getting a headache.

Temari brought her flute up to her lips and played a small tune, instantly knocking Sakura out cold. She wished she could take a picture of the looks on her sensei's and teammates' faces.

"Thank you _so _much, Temari-chan! If you hadn't done that, she'd have been rambling on about how great her Sasuke-kun was," Naruto said, bowing multiple times to Temari, who couldn't help but blush at the honorific he used.

"A-anytime, N-Naruto-kun," Temari replied, uncharacteristically stuttering.

Naruto was too caught up with Temari and Sakura to notice Gaara glaring daggers at him.

As the team strode out the door, Sakura slung over Mikan's shoulder, Gaara pulled out a small black notebook and started writing, mumbling things about how he's going to turn Naruto inside-out. This kind of talk unnerved Mikan ever so slightly.

Gaara POV

Gaara was ticked. Actually, scratch that, he was downright _pissed_. First, his cat scratches the hell out of him, then Yashamaru eats the last cookie, and now Naruto was flirting with his sister! Right now he truly and utterly wanted to castrate him to make sure he wouldn't try anything funny with Temari. At this point, it really didn't matter if they were six or sixteen, if he caught even the slightest glimpse of Naruto flirting with his nee-chan, he would _pay majorly_.

He pulled out his favorite notebook and began writing down multiple pranks to play on his blonde best friend. It didn't take long for him to find multiple ways to humiliate Naruto:

Ways to Horrify and Annoy Naruto

Bleach in his shampoo  Pink dye in his shampoo

Pull a 'Kankuro' 

Gaara-style _Sexy Jutsu_

Long-lasting makeup while he sleeps

Haircut in his sleep

Hand in water trick

Sand in his bed  Scorpions in his bed

Hot sauce in his water

Pepper in his cereal

Hairspray all over his body

Happy with his results, Gaara put his notebook back in its hidden pocket and walked a bit faster to catch up with the rest of his group.

Thirty wordless minutes passed before something relatively interesting happened. Temari had stated that she could see bandits surrounding them.

"Yeah, I see them. They're not good at hiding, are they? How many do you suppose there are?" Naruto asked, amused by the display of horrible hiding.

"I'd say there's about twelve. Gaara, would you do the honors?"

Gaara nodded and sent out twelve waves of sand toward the poorly hidden bandits. An ear-piercing scream was heard as the sand returned to its original container on Gaara's back.

He smirked. "If this is all that's going to happen, I'm going to unbelievably bored by the time we get to Konoha."

"I couldn't agree more," Mikan said, grinning. Sakura was become unusually heavy on her shoulder. What was this little snot eating?

"I hope we encounter some actual Shinobi while we're out here. That'd make my day over here," Temari said, putting her hands behind her head.

"Or at least some better bandits," Naruto replied, snorting.

Another uneventful five hours passed. Sakura still had yet to wake up. Mikan was starting to make camp while Naruto, Temari, and Gaara were all huddled around a fire in a cave they'd stumbled upon. Temari sat across from Naruto with Sakura to her right, still sleeping soundly. Gaara was directly to Naruto's left, a beige blanket wrapped around him.

"It gets really cold in the desert, doesn't it?" Naruto said, pulling his own orange blanket closer to himself. He had loved the color in his youth in his past life, but began to outgrow it by his seventeenth birthday. Though he didn't like the color all too well, the blanket was very warm and made of wool.

"Yeah, it gets pretty cold out here. I thought you would've noticed, seeing as you've been here six months," Temari replied, also pulling her purple blanket close to her.

"Yeah, but I've only been out to this desert when it was hot."

"Well, let me be the first to tell you that you were lucky to have been walking through the daytime desert rather than the nighttime desert," Gaara said, shivering at the thought.

This earned a laugh from Temari and Naruto, which put a smile on Gaara's face.

"Sakura will be waking up soon. What do you want to do about it?" Naruto asked, motioning to Temari.

"I'll probably play her another tune to get her to sleep again. Man, she's a pain, isn't she?"

"You've got that right. She's always asking for something. Most of the things she asks for are completely unheard of. I mean, a unicorn? Come on, that's ridiculous," Gaara said, annoyance easily detectable in his voice.

"Plus, she's always saying something about her Sasuke-kun. Whoever he is, I bet he's not so great," Temari replied with a snort.

"Sasuke is part of the Uchiha clan in Konoha. He's pretty smart and is really gifted compared to his class, and he's got tons of fangirls. Personally, I don't see what's so awesome about him. He's just another member in an elite clan. The only girls I know over there who don't like Sasuke at all are Hinata Hyuga and Tenten Izumi."

"I guess he's pretty popular, then. What does he look like, anyway?"

"Well, for starters his hair is black with blue highlights and is styled so it looks like a duck's butt."

Temari couldn't help but laugh. "Duck butt? That's pathetic!"

"I've only seen him once, and it's pretty bad," Gaara lied.

"His eyes are black and he's pretty pale. He still doesn't have Sharingan, though," Naruto finished, rubbing his hands together to try and warm himself.

"Well, how skilled is he? He's got to be pretty good if you're praising him."

"Well, I did say that he's really gifted in his class, right? Since I'm not part of his class, it doesn't include me. I could beat the little prick up any day of the week if I wanted to. It's just that I'm in Suna and he's in Konoha, so I never have the chance to wipe that smug grin off his face."

"It seems you guys have a rivalry, am I right?" Gaara asked, knowing full well the answer to his question.

"I suppose that's what you could call it, if you think extreme overkill from yours truly is rivalry."

"So Naruto, about all those fangirls, why didn't they like you instead of Uchiha?"

"I suppose that could be a number of things. It may have been because he's considered an elite among elites, or maybe it was simply because I wasn't in their class. Or maybe he's the tall, dark, and handsome type and I'm more of the short, light, and adorable type that'll kick your ass if I need to."

Gaara and Temari started laughing at his 'short, light, and adorable type' remark.

Mikan walked over to the fire and sat down in front of Sakura, sighing at her effort to make camp. The camp only consisted of three tents around the fire, but it took a lot of effort to figure out what went where.

"Well, I'm finished," Mikan said, putting her hands behind her head.

Temari looked up at Gaara. "Well, do you want to do anything before we go to sleep?"

Gaara raised an invisible eyebrow at his sister.

"Okay, before Naruto-kun, Mikan-sensei, Sakura and I go to sleep?"

Gaara shook his head. It was decided that Gaara and Naruto would share a tent because they knew each other very well. Temari would have to share with Sakura, much to her dismay. Mikan got a tent to herself simply because she was the 'Jonin sensei who slaved all day to put the tents together for the trip'.

"Then I'm going to bed. Oyasumi, Naruto-kun, Mikan-sensei, Gaara," Temari said, picking Sakura up and carrying her into their respective tent.

"I suppose I should hit the hay, too. 'Night, Naruto, Gaara," Mikan said, striding off into her tent.

Naruto sighed. "Maybe tomorrow we'll have a more eventful day."

"I hope so," Gaara said, standing up and brushing himself off. Naruto repeated the action, but much more vigorously.

"I could've sworn I felt some spiders or something crawling on me. Whatever, I'm heading out. You coming?" Naruto asked, heading to the tent.

Gaara nodded in response and followed suit behind Naruto.

When Team 4 and Sakura were asleep and Gaara was too deep in thought to have any senses, an eerie laughter could be heard from deep within the cave's core.

"It's almost time…they won't even know what hit them," the voice said, continuing its evil laughter.

**DUN DUN DUN! At last, the thorn in the side of Team 4 is revealed. Just thinking that last part up made me shiver quite a bit, just so you know.**

**I'm sorry I didn't warn you guys about the Sakura and Sasuke bashing, I just couldn't help but put it in there. Don't worry, I won't bash Sasuke as much as I did from now on, but I'll definitely be bashing Sakura some more. **

**What did you think about needy-wanty Sakura? PLEASE review, it'll help me write.**

**Character descriptions and statistics for those who care (I use a lot of comparisons in here, I know):**

**Gaara**** (Chunin Exams Onward)**

**Wears: A short blue kimono top with matching pants, visible wrappings on his ankles and on his wrists, and geta-styled shoes. His gourd is held on with a loose white cloth and his blue hitai-ate is worn around his head.**

**Stats (Chunin Exams Onward): Ninjutsu: 5 Taijutsu: 2 Genjutsu: 3.5 Intelligence: 5 Strength: 3 Speed: 3.5 Stamina: 5 Hand Seals: 4.5. Total: 31.5**

**Appearance: Short red hair, no Kanji on his forehead, pale green eyes.**

**Naruto**** (Chunin Exams Onward)**

**Wears: A black shirt reminiscent to Ino's and Sakura's for its low hem, collar, and zipper (previously established), simple black pants and a white cloth similar to the bottom of Sakura's dress with the Uzumaki clan symbol at the bottom left, black shoes similar to Kurenai Yuhi's, and arm warmers similar to Ino's but with black in place of purple. His white hitai-ate is worn on his waist.**

**Stats (Chunin Exams Onward): Ninjutsu: 5 Taijutsu: 4.5 Genjutsu: 2.5 Intelligence: 4.5 Strength: 5 Speed: 5 Stamina: 5 Hand Seals: 3.5. Total: 35**

**Appearance: Waist-length blonde hair that's usually kept in a low ponytail and covers his right eye, continuously activated Rinnegan in his right eye, blue eyes, whisker marks on his face, silver piercing under his bottom lip, silver loop earrings.**

**Temari**** (Chunin Exams Onward)**

**Wears: A short purple kimono, a bright red obi that reaches her knees when tied in the back, red wristbands that resemble young Tsunade's, visible mesh on her right thigh, left calf, and right shoulder, loose red legwarmers, black ninja sandals, and a black hitai-ate worn on her forehead. Her flute is kept in her obi.**

**Stats (Chunin Exams Onward): Ninjutsu: 2 Taijutsu: 3.5 Genjutsu: 5 Intelligence: 4 Strength: 1.5 Speed: 4 Stamina: 4 Hand Seals: 4. Total: 28**

**Appearance: Shoulder-length dark blonde hair that's loosely kept in two half-ponytails, dark green eyes, and a purple star under her left eye.**

**Mikan**

**Wears: A dark brown trench coat, a loose beige shirt, a knee-length dark orange skirt with a slit running through the left side, knee-high black ninja sandals, dark brown fingerless gloves, visible mesh under her shirt, on both of her legs above the knees, and on her right calf. Her blue hitai-ate is around her neck. **

**Stats: Ninjutsu: 4.5 Taijutsu: 5 Genjutsu: 3 Intelligence: 3.5 Strength: 3.5 Speed: 4 Stamina: 3 Hand Seals: 5. Total: 30**

**Appearance: Short dark purple hair kept in a tight braid with two messy locks framing her face, orange pupil-less eyes, and a yellow moon on her forehead.**

**Ciao! ~NaruIno367**


	4. Chapter 4 Sakuragakure

Chapter 4 – In this chapter, Team 4 meets the thorn in their side for a while to come. Plus, the area where Sakuragakure will be founded is seen…

Disclaimer: Seriously, is the disclaimer a tradition or something? I know I forgot to put it in the last chapter, so I don't own anything but this fic.

Gaara POV

The next morning, Team 4 awoke to a raging sandstorm. Since controlling the sand outside would be too difficult and would take a lot of chakra, Gaara told his teammates and sensei that they would have to wait for the wind to die down before they could keep going.

"I just _had _to get stuck with a blonde sissy, a snobby girl, a redhead who can't do anything, and a purple-haired yank. What's next, a Kabuki dancer that plays with dolls?" Sakura said, crossing her arms.

Temari picked her up by the collar. "Listen you little wretch. Keep talking like that and I'm going to staple your mouth shut and duct tape your arms together. I'm going to take out your small intestine and choke you with it afterward. Do I make myself clear?" she threatened, a terrifying look on her face.

"Crystal," Sakura quickly said, shivering.

Temari let Sakura go and turned to Naruto, smiling. "That takes care of that, right Naruto-kun?"

"You could've just played that flute of yours, Temari-chan," Naruto said, sighing.

"Or hit her over the head," Gaara said, rubbing his temples. "That's what I'd do."

"I wouldn't have even warned her about what I'd do, I'd just do it," Mikan said, cracking her knuckles. This made Sakura faint, and she fell to the floor with a thud.

"I suppose that works, too," Temari said, laughing nervously.

"So who's going to carry her?" Naruto said, looking around at everybody.

Mikan, Gaara, and Temari all looked at him. For a while, nobody said a word.

"No," he said. "There's no way."

They refused to let him out of their sights.

"I told you, it's not me!"

"…"

"Oh, fine. I guess I could carry her in a summoning scroll, right?"

"That'd decrease your physical strength though, right?" Mikan asked, an eyebrow raised.

"But it's so much easier."

"Lazy much?"

"Not as lazy as I was when I first got here. Now, how are we going to wait out this sandstorm?"

"We could all go back to sleep…" Temari offered, trailing off sleepily.

Naruto laughed. "There's got to be something we can do in the meantime. What do you think, Mikan-sensei?"

Mikan thought for a moment. "We could explore for a bit. By the looks of it, this sandstorm isn't going away for quite a while. What do you think, Naruto-kun?"

Naruto laughed. "Why ask me?"

Mikan flicked Naruto's head playfully. "You're pretty close to the leader of this group, you know. Come on; let's go check the cave depths out."

Naruto sighed. He knew he'd been beat. "Temari-chan, what do you think?"

"I think it's a good idea."

"Good… Gaara, what about you?"

"I'm alright with it."

"Looks like we're going," Naruto said, placing Sakura inside a summoning scroll and tucking it in his pocket.

Temari raised her hand. "I'll lead the trip! Let's go, team!"

Temari marched off happily, pulling Naruto along with her. Mikan and Gaara followed, laughing at Temari's antics.

As they progressed deeper into the cave, they began to see tiny petals of sakura and other varying flower petals.

"That's odd… I didn't know trees grew in caves like this," Mikan said, studying the tiny pink ovals on the cave floor.

Gaara squinted. "They don't."

"Then why are there hundreds of flower petals on the ground?" Temari inquired.

"Beats me. Let's keep going and see what's up."

Naruto nodded. If anyone knew about the caves in the Suna desert, it'd be Gaara; so naturally he would be the one to follow in situations like this.

The deeper they got, the more petals started showing up. Not only the soft pink flower particles, but also a faint scent of chamomile and lavender plus a slight breeze appeared.

"Something's fishy here. A cave isn't supposed to have wind coming from the _inside_. What do you suppose is up, Naruto-kun?" Temari asked, taking in the soothing scent of flowers.

"I don't know, but it's sort of soothing," he replied, closing his eyes and smiling.

Mikan took a deep breath. "I'll say; I'm getting pretty tranquil over here."

Gaara sighed and continued walking, leaving his teammates and sensei behind. Gradually, the rocky ground beneath him faded into soft dirt. The walls of mineral-rich stone faded into light crystal-embedded rock.

_What's up with this place? I've never seen anything like it before today…_

He paused in his tracks. Up ahead, he could see a small opening in the walls, just big enough for a normal-sized person to squeeze through. Against his better judgment, he crept up to the crevice. It soon became obvious that the source of wind and flower petals was the opening itself.

_I'll have to have Naruto check this out after the mission… I'm not going in there._

He pulled out the _Hiraishin _kunai Naruto had given him before the mission and stuck it between two rocks, careful to keep it hidden.

As he walked away from the hole, Gaara couldn't help but shiver slightly as a wave of malice hit him. He walked slightly faster than before, not wanting to get into an unnecessary fight.

…..

? POV

A tall figure watched Gaara's quick departure, chuckling slightly when he saw him flinch.

_It'll only be a matter of time before I get what I came for…_

The figure trudged away, leaving the _Hiraishin _kunai embedded in the rock.

…..

Temari POV

Temari tapped her foot impatiently. Gaara had gone and walked off, leaving a laughing Naruto, a confused Mikan, and a ticked off Temari. Moments later, a figure appeared, revealing himself to be Gaara. Temari flicked him on the forehead.

"Why'd you go and leave us behind? You could've found an enemy base!" she said, continuously throwing rocks at him.

"Relax, I didn't find anything that could've posed a threat to us," Gaara responded, avoiding talking about the malicious chakra he felt. "Should we see if the sandstorm has died down?"

Mikan stopped Temari's hand before she could chuck another rock at her brother. "Calm down, Temari. Let's go, maybe the little squirt's right."

Naruto laughed, earning him a jab in the ribs courtesy of Gaara's middle and pointer fingers.

…..

(3 Hours Later)

Naruto POV

"But I want to go home _now_!"

"We get there when we get there, Sakura!" Mikan said, holding her hands to her ears.

"That's not soon enough!"

"Too bad!"

"Shut up, both of you!" Temari said, hitting Sakura over the head with her flute.

"That hurt, you sand bit…"

Before Sakura could continue her sentence, she was hit by Temari's flute once again.

"Thanks, Temari…" Mikan said, rubbing her head.

"I'm just going to be quiet now…" Sakura said, anime-style tears flowing down her face.

After discovering the sandstorm had died down, Team 4 had taken Sakura out of the sealing scroll. If she was kept inside any longer, she would start to age in reverse. Once let out of the scroll, she started to list all the things she wanted to have. Sasuke was on the list.

"Naruto-kun, you're quiet. Is something wrong?" Temari asked, genuine concern on her face.

Naruto snapped out of his daze to face Temari. "Sorry, did I space out again?"

"Yeah, you did," Gaara said, crossing his arms. "So what's up?"

"I may be overreacting, but I'm not quite sure we're alone here."

Temari's eyes widened. "You can feel it too?"

Naruto nodded. "Gaara, did you find anything strange in that cave we were in?"

Said redhead stopped in his tracks, causing everyone to stop and look at him in interest.

"What did you find in there?" Mikan asked, taking a step forward.

"Well… I didn't want to worry you guys, but I felt a strange chakra deep in that cave. I'm sorry I didn't say anything earlier. I'm even sorrier to say that I feel as if that chakra is following us. It's almost pure killer intent."

Sakura screamed while Temari backed up slightly in fear. Naruto and Mikan merely stared at him the same as before.

"So what you're saying… is that you think the same person who carries that chakra like in the cave… is following us?"

"Yes… that's what I think, anyway."

"What will we do?" Naruto asked, running his hands through his ponytail.

"If it's needed… I think we'll have to fight someone."

"In that case… I need to talk to you," Naruto replied, taking Gaara's arm and pulling him along with him. Once they were far enough away from the rest of the group, Naruto set up a sound barrier.

"Now what's so important that I'm the only one who can hear it?"

"I recognize that chakra."

Gaara's eyes widened. "Who is it then?"

Naruto's face darkened. "It's Orochimaru's. I'd recognize it anywhere…"

"Orochimaru? What's he doing near Konoha?"

"I'm not quite sure… but I have a Jutsu I'd like to test out, and I think Orochimaru is the perfect candidate."

"A Jutsu? What does it do?"

Naruto smirked. "It controls minds. It takes a cheese load of chakra, but it's really effective."

"Mind control? What'll we do with that?"

"We'll take him with us."

Gaara nearly fell over. "You want to take Orochimaru back to Suna? You're insane!"

"With my mind control, he will be a completely different person, Gaara! Just believe in me this one time! If he goes back to his old ways, I'll let you beat me in the Chunin exams!"

"…you're sure he'll be different?"

Naruto nodded.

"…and you're positive the Jutsu will stay in place?"

Another nod.

"…fine then. We'll take him with us."

Naruto punched the air. "That's awesome! Thanks, Gaara!"

Before Gaara could react, Naruto pulled him into a bone-crushing hug.

"You're the best redhead in the world, Gaara!"

Said six-year-old groaned. "I'm the only redhead you know."

"Yeah, but you're the best!"

"That makes little to no sense."

"It doesn't have to!" Naruto said, letting Gaara go. He released the sound barrier and skipped back to his team's location. Gaara sighed.

"Sometimes I wonder why I put up with him."

In the distance, Naruto could be seen forming a few hand seals. A white and blue circle with strange markings formed around his feet before disappearing and heading toward Team 4. Soon after the circle was made, Naruto got down on one knee and began to restore chakra.

"What's he doing up there?"

…..

Sakura POV

"Um… Temari?" Sakura said, pulling on Temari's kimono.

Temari turned to the bubblegum-haired girl with a frown on her face. "What is it, brat?"

"I was just wondering… where did sand boy and blondie go?"

Temari sighed. "I don't know."

"Oh… and… Temari?"

"What now?"

"I'm sorry for the way I acted before… I don't know what I was thinking."

Temari stared at Sakura in disbelief. The brat was apologizing to her?

"Well, looks like Gaara and Naruto are back. What took you guys so long?" Mikan asked, putting her hands on her hips.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "Sorry Mikan-sensei, I was just telling Gaara a few things…"

"It's sort of an inside thing."

Naruto spun around to face Gaara. "So, what do you think of my Jutsu?"

"What're you... wait… did you use that Jutsu on Sakura?"

"I sure did!"

"She's completely different than before…"

"That's the point!"

Temari, who was utterly confused, walked between her crush and her brother. "Hold up, what're you guys talking about?"

Before Gaara or Naruto could produce an answer, a huge wave of killer intent hit the group. Sakura fell to her knees in fear while Mikan, Temari, Naruto, and Gaara got into their respective fighting stances.

"Who's there?" Mikan shouted to seemingly no one.

"Show yourself!" Temari added.

A dark chuckling echoed around the group. "As if I'd show myself to a bunch of children and their pathetic sensei…"

"Don't underestimate us, or you'll pay the price," Gaara said.

Naruto turned to his group. "Mikan-sensei, Temari-chan, I want you both to protect Sakura. Gaara and I have this."

Both Kunoichi nodded and reformed their stances on either side of Sakura.

Naruto turned back to Gaara. "Should we finish this with my special Jutsu?"

"Of course," he replied, looking out into the distance. "You like experimenting, don't you? Why don't you come out here and take a few of us?"

The chuckling could be heard once more. "Ignorant children… perhaps I will toy with you a little."

A dark shadow appeared seemingly out of nowhere, and only grew darker with time. Soon, however, the shadow disappeared and took the shape of Orochimaru, the Snake Sannin. The simple sight of him made Naruto cringe.

"It seems I have a bunch of brave ones… I suppose you'd work well as my subjects…"

Before she could react, Temari felt a presence behind her. She turned around to see Orochimaru behind her, Kusanagi in hand. When Kusanagi had been drawn, Naruto would never know and always wonder. Just as Orochimaru was about to lower the blade, a yellow blur knocked him off balance. The same blur continuously struck him, aiming at his chakra points with deadly accuracy. After the assault, the blur revealed himself to be none other than Naruto, who had slapped a _Hiraishin _seal on Kusanagi during his first attack to protect Temari. Orochimaru stumbled back in pain, holding the spots Naruto had struck tightly to stop blood flow. Kusanagi had been sent flying from his hand, and was currently out of sight.

"What… what did you do to me?" Orochimaru stuttered, cringing.

Naruto smirked. "I rearranged your chakra coils. Don't be surprised when you try and move your left leg and move your right arm instead."

A wave of sand was sent toward the Snake Sannin, holding him so tight he couldn't move a muscle if he tried his hardest.

"Naruto, now would be a good time to use that Jutsu," Gaara said, still holding Orochimaru in place.

"That's what I was thinking," Naruto replied, already forming hand seals. The same white and blue circle appeared, but with different symbols than last time. The circle dispersed and the group instantly felt Orochimaru's chakra change from a malicious nature to one similar to Naruto's own. Gaara let the Sannin go, still in battle stance in case the Jutsu failed.

Naruto stepped forward. "Hey, Orochimaru,"-Naruto snapped his fingers-"You awake?"

"What… am I doing here?"

Naruto smirked.

"It's a bit of a long story…

…..

"So this is Orochimaru of the Sannin?" Mikan questioned, walking backward to face her team, Sakura, and the Snake Sannin.

"Yeah," Gaara replied, walking while simultaneously arranging Orochimaru's chakra coils back to the way they were. "He's the snake."

Sakura, who was still shivering from the short fight, turned around in slight interest. "What's he doing here again?"

"We're still not sure."

Temari scooted Sakura up her back slightly. Sakura had stopped moving entirely, so Temari had to carry her. "So basically, we just picked up an S-Class criminal from Konoha?"

"Yeah, we did."

"And he's coming with us?"

"Precisely."

Temari didn't like the thought of having the person who tried to kill her anywhere near her, let alone following them back to Suna. It just didn't feel right.

"So Orochimaru," Mikan said, slowing down to said Sannin's speed. "What do you know about yourself?"

"I'm sorry… I don't know much… all I remember is my name," Orochimaru said, holding his head as if in pain.

"You still know your Jutsu and stuff, right?"

"Yeah… I still remember my Jutsu."

"Then I'm sure you'll be fine. Besides, if you can't remember your past, then it must have been bad."

"I suppose so…"

Gaara let go of Orochimaru's arm. "All finished. Your movements should be what you anticipate them to be now."

"Oh… thanks for that…"

Gaara uncharacteristically shot a smile at Orochimaru. "Anytime."

"By my calculations, we should be back in Konoha in less than five minutes," Temari said, pointing at the leafy village in front of them.

"Perfect, we've made it in record time," Mikan said, clapping.

"This is great… I need to talk to a few people here. Would you mind if I go ahead, Mikan-sensei? I have a few seals in Konoha."

Mikan nodded and waved Naruto off. "Go ahead, squirt. I'll make sure Orochimaru-san doesn't run away."

"As if I would…"

Temari chuckled, causing Sakura to laugh as well.

Naruto waved. "I'll see you soon, Temari-chan, Mikan-sensei, Orochimaru-san, Sakura. Gaara, you're coming with me."

Naruto took Gaara by the arm and summoned himself to the seal he'd left in Konoha. Mikan laughed.

"Sometimes Naruto-kun can be such a dork."

…..

Gaara POV

"So… why are we here, exactly?" Gaara questioned. The seal Naruto had left was placed by the Hyuga district, much to Gaara's surprise.

"I have to pick a few people up," Naruto said.

"Hey, what're you doing here?"

Gaara spun around to see a girl around the same age as him with dark indigo hair and pale lavender eyes. She was pushing her fingers together nervously.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto said, smiling back at the girl.

Hinata's eyes widened slightly. "How do you know my name?"

"We met a few months ago. It's me, Naruto."

"Naruto-kun? You came back!"

"I said I would, right?"

"I didn't think you'd really come back for me, though…"

"I don't go back on my word."

Gaara tilted his head to the side. "That's Hinata?"

"Yeah, that's her. So Hinata, are you coming with us?"

Hinata's face brightened. "Of course I am!"

"Great… could you try and convince your cousin Neji to come with us also?"

Hinata nodded eagerly. "Of course I will! I'll be right back, Naruto-kun!"

Hinata ran off, leaving Naruto and Gaara behind.

"You promised to come back to get her? What for?"

"That's a long story. Come on, I have more people to recruit."

Once again, Gaara was pulled with Naruto. This time, he found himself in front of a large apartment building. Naruto lead him up the stairs and onto the third floor, where they stopped in front of door 256. After waiting a few seconds after knocking, the door opened to reveal a boy one year older than both Gaara and Naruto with long black hair and black eyes. At the sight of Naruto, his face broke out into a smile.

"Naruto-kun, you are back!"

"I sure am, Lee… you coming with us or what?"

Lee nodded. "Once I finish up a few things."

Gaara gave a light smile. "You seem to have made a lot of promises."

"Yeah… can't start a new village without recruits, right?"

"New village?"

"I'll explain later. Lee, when you're done, meet us by the Hyuga district. I need to find some more friends."

Lee nodded eagerly and closed the door. Naruto took Gaara's arm and used _Hiraishin _once again. This time, Gaara found himself in the Uchiha district. His eyes widened once again.

"We're here for Sasuke."

"I know that… are you going to see Itachi as well?"

"Yes, how did you know?"

"It's obvious you were going to try and prevent the Uchiha massacre. The only way to do that is to find Itachi."

Naruto laughed. "Gaara, you can read me like a book sometimes. Come on, I know where he is."

Naruto lead him to a grassy area filled with training dummies and broken rocks. Sure enough, a young Sasuke could be seen with Itachi by his side. Though he was trying his hardest, he was still subpar. However, that was to be expected given his age. When Itachi caught sight of the two strangers, he threw a kunai at the blonde, who flicked the air in front of it, sending a gust of air toward, deflecting it. Itachi's eyes widened as did Sasuke's.

"How did you do that?" Itachi asked.

"What do you mean? You're an ANBU captain, so you should know a Wind Jutsu when you see one."

"No, I mean how did you sense that kunai I threw at you? You're no older than Sasuke, yet you have reflexes better than my own."

"That's a story I'll tell later. Right now, I have an offer to make you."

"What kind of offer?" Itachi asked.

Gaara stepped forward. "We want you and Sasuke to come with us. We're recruiting some of the best young ninja for our own village."

"Your own village?" Sasuke asked. "Can you do that?"

Naruto smiled. "We sure can. It'll be unofficial, but we'll manage. What do you say?"

Itachi raised an eyebrow. "Why would we come with you? We barely know you."

Naruto smiled even brighter. "That's where you're wrong. I'll explain everything; all you need to do is come with us. You have no ties to Konoha, am I correct?"

Itachi pondered Naruto's statement for a second before replying, "No, now that I think about it. There's nothing I can't live without here besides Sasuke."

"So you'll come with us?" Gaara asked.

"Sasuke, what do you think?"

Sasuke nodded eagerly. "I want to see what the new village is like!"

"Then I guess we're coming with you."

Naruto clapped. "Very good choice… meet us by the Hyuga district when you've collected your belongings. I still have some compounds to visit. You'll see Hinata and Neji Hyuga, Lee Roku, and maybe my sensei there. I must go now."

In a blur of yellow, both Naruto and his companion disappeared, leaving no trace of their visit behind.

"What do you think the new village will be like, onii-chan?" Sasuke asked, pulling on Itachi's shirt.

"I'm not sure… but I hope it's better than Konoha."

…..

No POV

In the span of thirty minutes, Gaara and Naruto had visited the Yamanaka, Izumi, and Nara compounds to gather Ino, Tenten, and Shikamaru. They had all agreed to meet both Suna Shinobi at the Hyuga district. Five more minutes later, everyone had assembled and was ready to go. Naruto was surprised to see that Neji really had come with Hinata.

Mikan and Temari had dropped Sakura off at the Hokage's office and were surprised-to say the least-to see most of the Konoha 12 and Itachi Uchiha gathered at the Hyuga compound. Orochimaru was currently in disguise as a normal-looking ninja with brown hair and eyes.

When at the gates, Mikan had told everyone to go into disguise. Since Lee wasn't well known, he could pass by with ease. When questioned as to the identities of the children, Mikan had told them that they were her children and Orochimaru was her husband. Their eyes widened, of course.

The return to Suna went exactly as planned, and Mikan had lead the team back to the cave by Gaara's request. Naruto, however, traveled to the _Hiraishin _seal Gaara had placed in the cave. Mikan had run full-speed to deliver the mission report and to tell the Kazekage of their findings.

Naruto had easily picked through the rock and lost his breath for a split second at what he saw. After making sure the premises was secure and safe, Naruto ran back to the group to tell of his amazing discovery.

Mikan had return to the cave by the time Naruto had returned, and was very interested to hear what Naruto had found. When they finally reached the crevice in the rock at the end of the cave, everyone's breath hitched just as Naruto's had, for inside there was the most beautiful thing they'd ever seen.

It was a very well-hidden village inside the rock, much smaller than any of the other hidden villages. They were surprised to see premade buildings of white and light pink hues and well-manicured glossy silver stone on the ground. When they looked up, they could see the design of the Rinnegan painted on the rocky ceiling, and in the middle was a gated hole for fresh air. Along the sides of the cave were hundreds of sakura trees-the same they'd seen while exploring during the mission. Behind the sakura trees, they could see a similarly designed area. The buildings were tall, and rather than white and pink, they were light yellow and slightly dark orange. In place of sakura trees along the side, hyakunichisou shrubs could be seen, adding to the brightness. The glasslike floor remained the same. To the other side of the white and pink district, there was another area, which was bigger than the other two districts combined. This time, the buildings were smaller than the orange district's but bigger than the pink one's, and they were light blue, white, and very light yellow. Wasurenagusa spruces lined multiple houses and the sides of the cave. Some could even be seen on the rock walls. One large cylindrical building resembling the Hokage tower stood in the middle, with the kanji for flower in place of the kanji for fire. Everyone noted the temperature differentiation between each of the three districts. They assumed it was to help the flowers grow. The hole in the ceiling let in a soft breeze, which blew the petals around in the sakura district.

The group decided to split up: Ino, Shikamaru, and Lee would explore the hyakunichisou-style district, Sasuke, Itachi, and Mikan would explore the sakura-style district, and Hinata, Neji, and Naruto would explore the wasurenagusa-style district. Gaara and Temari would try and sculpt a blood seal to let only select people in while Tenten filled in the rock. Orochimaru would help Gaara and Temari draw the blood seal and tell them how to set certain types of blood to be allowed in.

Ino, Shikamaru, and Lee discovered scrolls inside one of the larger buildings in the orange town, but couldn't open them. They decided to take them back to Naruto and see what he had to say about them. Sasuke, Itachi, and Mikan discovered their own things. They had decided to split up and meet back in the middle within a five minute time period. When they all returned, Sasuke showed his brother and Mikan some fabric he'd found in a small, slightly run-down building to the side. At first, it seemed like nothing much to them, but when they felt it, they were amazed beyond belief. It was very strong, but it was extremely soft. Sasuke explained that it was a fabric called silk. The other two fabric types he'd brought with him were identified as polyester and simple cotton (A/N: The same used for everyone's outfits). Itachi had brought a large bag filled with weapons that neither him nor Sasuke could identify. Mikan had explained to them that Itachi had found an oversized Tessen (A/N: A fan larger than Temari's.), a large Yari (A/N: A three-pronged war spear the same size as the Tessen.), and Chakrams (A/N: Medium-sized metal rings with five long, sharp spikes on the outer rims.). Mikan had brought back five vials filled with pink, blue, orange, white, and yellow liquid, respectively. She had also discovered some Jutsu scrolls to take back to Naruto. Hinata, Neji, and Naruto had also split up, with Naruto heading to the Kage-like tower in the middle and Hinata and Neji going opposing directions. When they came back together, Hinata had brought back syringes filled with blue liquid and wasurenagusa petals inside, Neji had brought back more Jutsu scrolls, and Naruto had found the strangest thing of all: Kage robes with a theme color of pink and the kanji for flower on the hat.

Soon they all came back together. Gaara, Temari, Orochimaru, and Tenten had taken blood samples from everyone and set it to be accepted by the complete blood seal. After everything with the blood seal was set, the rock door was filled up completely. After some random discussion as to their discoveries, everyone turned to Naruto to see what he would do. He suggested that they stay in the mysterious village and call it their home. Everyone agreed to this. When it came down to who would be the Kage, both Naruto and Mikan wanted the position. To see who was better between the two, they fought in a training ground behind the wasurenagusa area. Naruto came out victorious in less than ten minutes. During the time that everyone was congratulating Naruto and trying to cheer up Mikan, Ino kindly brought up the fact that nothing had a name yet. The unofficial Kage decided to call the village Sakuragakure in honor of the flower petals that lead them to the village. He would call himself the Hanakage, but only when he reached Jonin rank. He decided to divide the village into three districts: The Wasurenagusa District, the Sakura District, and the Hyakunichisou District. He designed the hitai-ate of the village to be three hollow circles (A/N: Two on the bottom and one on the top, like a pyramid.) in honor of the division of the village. For the time being, Ino, Shikamaru, Mikan, and Lee would live in the Sakura District, Orochimaru, Temari, Gaara, and Naruto would live in the Wasurenagusa District in the Hanakage tower, and Tenten, Neji, Hinata, Itachi, and Sasuke would live in the Hyakunichisou District. It was decided that later that day, they would send a long letter to the Kazekage explaining their situation and plans. The letter would include their plans for the Chunin exams the next day.

After the eventful day, Naruto decided to open the scrolls to see what they contained. He was baffled, to say the least, as to what the scrolls contained. One of the explained that the syringe Hinata had found could be injected into one's bloodstream and it would give them the Kekkei-Genkai of Aohana Release. It also explained that the vials Mikan had found were other types of Kekkei-Genkai. The pink one (A/N: These are all injected into the bloodstream via Hinata's syringe by the way.) allowed the use of Momohana Release, the blue one also gave Aohana Release, the orange one allowed Syuhana Release, the yellow gave Kihana Release, and the white gave Crystal Release. Another scroll described the usage of each weapon Itachi had brought in. Naruto chuckled a little when he saw it, as he knew that Tenten would love to see it. The other fifty-two scrolls that were discovered showed how to use Aohana, Momohana, Syuhana, Kihana, and Crystal Release Jutsu. Naruto had also found blank hitai-ate bases on the desk in the Hanakage tower, to which he had engraved his design for Sakuragakure. He had also found a food garden in the basement. Everyone made themselves a new outfit that night out of the fabric Sasuke had found. One thing was for certain: Team 4 was ready to take the Chunin Exam the next day.

**Well, how was it? I hope nothing was too confusing. Anyway, onward to the translations:**

**Aohana: Blue Flower. This Kekkei-Genkai is typically used for pacification. It uses the fumes of the Wasurenagusa flower to make the victim either fall asleep or lose control over their body.**

**Momohana: Pink Flower. This Kekkei-Genkai is typically used for paralysis. Out of the other flower Kekkei-Genkai, Momohana is the hardest to use, as it forces sakura petals to become so small that they can lodge themselves into the victim's chakra coils, cutting off the flow of chakra and stopping the victim from moving.**

**Syuhana: Orange Flower. This Kekkei-Genkai is typically used for binding. It uses the Hyakunichisou flower petals, linking them together to form a rope that can be wrapped around the target. The petals can be lit on fire, causing further pain to the target.**

**Kihana: Yellow Flower. This Kekkei-Genkai is typically used for illusions. It uses Kigiku flower petals to hide the target and allow the user to escape or ambush the target. The fumes also cause the victim to lose their senses for a short amount of time.**

**Crystal: The same Kekkei-Genkai that Guren uses.**

**Wasurenagusa: Forget-me-not.**

**Sakura: Cherry Blossom.**

**Hyakunichisou: Zinnia.**

**Kigiku: Yellow Chrysanthemum.**

**Next up: We'll meet Tsunade and Jiraiya in the Chunin Exam, the Sakuragakure group will get Kekkei-Genkai and a team of their own for future use, and we'll meet some lost clan members…**


	5. Chapter 5 New Allies

Chapter 4: The Chunin Exam

Disclaimer: Last time I checked I was a female living in America… not a male living in Japan. And I surely don't own Naruto in any way, shape, or form.

**Poll: I NEED TO KNOW WHAT TO DO ABOUT SAKURA DURING THE KONOHA CHUNIN EXAMS!**

**1: Gaara kills Sakura in the Forest of Death.**

**2: Naruto kills Sakura by accident in the Final Round.**

**3: Sakura goes missing and is later found dead in the Forest of Death.**

**4: Sakura becomes a civilian due to heavy injury.**

**5: I leave Sakura alone and never talk about her again.**

**Please leave a review with your answer!**

…..

Mikan POV

The morning after the foundation of Sakuragakure, Mikan Tofune woke Naruto, Temari, and Gaara up early in the morning. Her reason for doing so was simple: It wouldn't be good to make a bad impression on the other villages by being late to the Chunin Exam. When the team had all gathered together at the entrance, Naruto presented them with their newly crafted hitai-ate. The night before, Mikan had decided that her team's outfits were too dark. She had suggested they all come back with new, brighter outfits to fool the other teams into thinking they were weak. Temari came back wearing a short, bright, yellow kimono with a lighter yellow sash and legwarmers of the same shade along with blue ninja shoes. She had tied her hair into two low pigtails to seem innocent. Once she got her blue hitai-ate, she tied it around her head. Gaara, who had appeared a few moments after Temari did, opted for a light brown sleeveless shirt with a zipper down the middle, a pair of darker brown pants with multiple pockets, dark orange ninja shoes, and a white cloth across his torso. When he received his orange hitai-ate-he found this amusing since it matched his outfit-he also tied it around his head, letting his hair over the emblem. Naruto, who showed up later than Mikan would've liked him to, appeared in a shirt with the same shape he wore beforehand, but rather than being black, it was light yellow-green and had a high collar and short sleeves with his clan symbol on each side. Everywhere than had been black previously had been changed into light yellow-green, and he had even let his hair down and put in a red hairclip on the left side of his hair. The scroll and the red strings remained the same, but rather than being tied in a knot in the back, he had tied it into a bow. He wrapped his white hitai-ate around his waist. Once they had said goodbye and left the cave, Mikan found it to be her place to say a few words to her 'dream team'.

"Naruto-kun, what're you going to do?" Mikan asked, walking backwards to face him.

"What do you mean, Mikan-sensei?" Naruto questioned.

"I mean, are you going to hold back or will you go all-out on your opponents?"

"I'll hold back. I don't want everyone to know what I can do just yet."

"Good plan, Naruto-kun," Temari said, fidgeting with her kimono. "What should I do, though?"

"I'd hold back as well if I were you. We wouldn't want someone wearing earplugs because they saw your flute, right? Just use some Ninjutsu and Taijutsu, and only use Genjutsu when it's needed."

"That's… actually a good plan. I'll do that."

"Gaara, I definitely want you to hold back. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

Gaara chuckled slightly. "Of course. I held back last time, didn't I?"

Naruto shivered. "I still can't believe you didn't go full-power last time, Gaara…"

"What are you guys talking about?" Temari asked.

"Oh, we'll explain it later, Temari-chan. Look; I can see Suna up ahead, so we're almost there already."

"Well that's odd," Mikan said, raising an eyebrow. "It took more time to reach the cave from Suna than it did to reach Suna from the cave."

"That's probably just your imagination," Gaara stated.

"Or it was because of that vicious she-demon…" Temari said, trailing off.

"Or both," Naruto said.

Twenty minutes passed, and Team 4 finally reached Suna. Once they were there, they all noted the stares they received. They ignored it and continued on their way.

That is, until they were greeted by a team from an unrecognizable village.

…..

Gaara POV

"Hey, you guys shouldn't be here," said a short girl with short brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a short, mint green kimono with pink lining along with red cuffs on her wrists and ankles. She also had on black ninja sandals and a black hitai-ate on her pink sash with an emblem resembling an 'x' on the metal. She had visible mesh under her kimono and on her ankles. She looked to be around thirteen years old.

"What do you mean? We're here for the Chunin Exam. Who are you, anyway?" Temari asked, offended by the girl's rudeness.

"Isn't it a bit rude to ask someone for their name before giving them your own?" said a tall girl behind the short one, her black eyes narrowing. She had curled and slightly frizzy black hair tied in a bun with her blue hitai-ate on her head. She wore a knee-length turtleneck dress with long sleeves and pleats on the skirt. She also adorned a black vest with a single silver button holding it together. She also wore blue ninja shoes with five straps keeping them on her feet. Her ankles and hands were bound with white bandages.

"Come now, we don't want to make a bad impression, do we?" another girl said. She was slightly shorter than the black-haired girl, and had brown hair reaching her waist and the lavender eyes of a Hyuga. She donned a loose white poncho with light gray bordering and a looser white dress and sash of the same hues, a slit running up the left side of the skirt. She had bindings on her thighs, ankles, and wrists. Her white hitai-ate was around her head and she had white ninja sandals on.

She took a step forward. "My name is Masame Hyuga of the cadet branch," she said, pointing to the Hyuga emblem on her poncho. She turned to the short girl. "This is Inowari Yamanaka and Kotomi Uchiha." She motioned to the black-haired girl.

Temari looked them over in approval. "I'm Temari Sabakuno. This is my brother, Gaara Sabakuno and my teammate Naruto."

The team from the unrecognizable village noted that she didn't say Naruto's last name. "Who is your sensei?" Masame asked, looking at Mikan.

"This is Mikan Tofune."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Mikan said, bowing politely. Masame bowed just the same.

When the violet stood back upright, she asked the question everyone was dying to ask. "What is the name of your hidden village? I don't recognize it."

Inowari snorted. "We're from a village of outcasts. It's called Yotamonogakure. We were all sent away from our clans due to being 'defective' in one way or another. For instance, Kotomi here was sent away because she can't use fire Ninjutsu. Masame was sent away because she didn't activate the Byakugan as quickly as the others did, and I was sent away because I wasn't born with blonde hair and blue or green eyes like the rest of the Yamanaka clanspeople. There's another team from our village competing today. Their names are Rinka Yuhi, Shikarina Nara, and Akimichi Choko. Rinka was sent away because he was second born, Shikarina was sent away because she was a first born girl, and Choko was sent away because she had too fast metabolism."

Temari shook her head. "I'm sorry about that."

"Don't be," Masame said, smiling lightly. "It's a nice village, believe it or not. I wanted to ask you about your own village, but if we don't hurry to the arena we won't be allowed in."

Both the teams strode to the arena with Gaara and Naruto talking about Sakuragakure in glorious detail. Inowari, Kotomi, and Masame would ask questions from time to time, but mostly listened intently to the description of Sakura. When they reached the entry of the Chunin Exam arena, the Jonin sensei of the outcast team greeted them. They all gave their names and other varying information and were accepted into the room, where they picked out numbered cards at random and took a seat matching their card. Temari sat between Kotomi and a tall Shinobi with a covered face, Gaara sat to the right of Masame and an Aburame Shinobi, and Naruto sat between Inowari and a green-haired Kunoichi. He was trying to ignore the googly-eyes they were making at him.

The proctor introduced himself to be Kikado Awakumi. He explained the rules to all of the aspiring Chunin-besides Masame, who was already a Chunin-and set them all loose. Gaara finished first, and took the time to observe the others' cheating methods. Temari was using mirrors to look at Gaara's paper from a distance, Kotomi was using her Sharingan to follow the pencil movements of a disguised Chunin in front of her, Inowari used her _Shintenshin_ Jutsu to switch places with the same Chunin, Masame activated her Byakugan to make it seem as if she was still a Genin trying to pass, and Naruto had finished just after Gaara did. Just as both of the time travelers predicted, Kikado tried to make as many competitors as possible leave in fear. Over three quarters of the room had left before he announced to the three remaining teams that they had passed.

Shortly after announcing the victory, Kikado opened a window and another proctor jumped inside. This time, however, Team 4 was surprised to see that it was Mikan. When she saw the lack of teams in the room, she made the decision that they were not going to be sent into the Forest of Death for further deduction. Instead, the three teams made their way to the arena, where they saw that Mikan had already gathered the entire village into the stadium to watch the fights. The Kazekage sat in a booth high above the battle ground with Mikan, Kikado, and three ANBU at his side.

Once the three teams had found their place in the waiting area, Inowari flipped her hair a few times while waving to the crowd. Kotomi stood with her hands on her hips and a frown on her face, and Masame waved to Temari, who kindly waved back.

Everyone quieted down when the final proctor walked to the stadium.

"Welcome to the final part of the Chunin Exam," he said. He wore the traditional Suna Jonin attire and had short black hair and yellow eyes. "My name is Kintaro Hoshina, and I'm the proctor of the Final Exam."

Kintaro took a bow and the crowd began to cheer again. When he stood back up, everyone quieted once again. As he pointed to the giant computer at his side, Naruto began to wonder if all the hidden villages had one.

"This screen will show the competitors for the first match. Genin, please be prepared for battle, as this selection is completely at random. Now, first off…"

The screen ran through nine names until it stopped:

**Shikarina Nara vs. Temari Sabakuno**

The battle went fairly quickly, and ended with Temari taking victory against the purple-haired Nara.

Temari thought she had lost to the girl in the orange and yellow kimono when she had trapped her with her shadow Jutsu, but something over her head drew her attention away from Temari, who was able to play a flute melody that knocked her out cold.

After making sure Shikarina had lost consciousness, Kintaro declared Temari to be the victor.

**Choko Akimichi vs. Kotomi Uchiha**

The battle between Choko and Kotomi lasted longer than Shikarina and Temari's battle, but it was still very quick.

Choko had caught Kotomi in a roll of cotton cloth and thought for sure she had won, but when Kintaro was about to declare her as the winner, Kotomi soaked the cloth using a water Jutsu, and was let free. She used her Sharingan to put Choko into a nameless Genjutsu, and was soon declared the winner after Choko surrendered.

**Inowari Yamanaka vs. Kotomi Uchiha**

Kotomi was unhappy that her battle was chosen twice, but went through with it anyhow. When the battle began, Inowari stood still while Kotomi charged at her. After some impressive Taijutsu, Inowari decided that enough was enough, and used a Jutsu no one had seen before. She used the same hand seal for her _Shintenshin_, but rather than swap minds with her opponent, Kotomi clutched her head in pain and surrendered.

After getting over his confusion, Kintaro declared Inowari to be the winner of the match.

**Rinka Yuhi vs. Gaara Sabakuno**

For a while during the match, both competitors stood still before Rinka did the unthinkable:

He surrendered.

When Kintaro questioned him why he surrendered, he didn't answer.

Confused, Kintaro announced Gaara as the winner.

**Masame Hyuga vs. Naruto Namikaze**

The battle took around two hours to complete. Everyone could tell Naruto was holding back and that Masame was going all-out, but it was fun to watch. Every time Masame would close up Naruto's Tenketsu, he would re-open them. She continuously used _Jyuken _moves on him, but nothing seemed to work. Reluctantly, Masame quit the match and walked away as Kintaro declared Naruto as the victor.

Shortly after the Chunin Exam was finished, the Kazekage announced the new Chunin to be Inowari, Kotomi, Naruto, Temari, Gaara, and Shikarina. The new Chunin and remaining Genin-and Masame-met up by the village gates before they left and shared some small talk. After their meeting, they all bade each other their farewells, and left in their opposing directions. However, rather than leave straight for home, the Sakura team was stopped by the Kazekage.

"What's the matter, Kazekage-sama?" Mikan asked.

"I would like to congratulate all of you on your victories," the Wind Shadow replied. "And I'd like to promote you."

Gaara tilted his head to the side. "What do you mean, 'promote us'? We're already Chunin."

"I mean, I'd like to promote you all to Jonin rank."

The team's eyes widened. Who ever heard of a six-year old, a seven-year-old, and a ten-year-old Jonin trio?

"Isn't it a little soon, Kazekage-sama?" Mikan asked, dumbfounded.

"Not necessarily. I've seen what you all can accomplish, and I know you're ready for the position. And if I were you, I'd look for more recruits for that village of yours," the Kazekage answered, walking away.

Everyone stared at the spot the Kazekage was just standing in disbelief. What just happened?

"That was random," Temari said. "And very quick."

"I've never been Jonin before…" Naruto muttered under his breath so Mikan and Temari wouldn't hear him.

Gaara smiled at Naruto. "What now, Hanakage-sama?"

Naruto's ears perked up. "What was that?"

"I called you Hanakage-sama."

"Why?"

"You said that when you became a Jonin, you would call yourself the Hanakage."

"I did…"

"And you just became a Jonin."

"So I'm the Hanakage?"

"Yeah."

Naruto stood in silence for a moment. "Three promotions in one day, huh? This is going in the history books."

"So what do we do now?" Temari asked.

"I've got an idea…"

"What is it?"

"I'd like to visit a friend of mine."

…..

Orochimaru POV

Back in Sakura, Orochimaru could be seen rummaging through various trunks in the Wasurenagusa District out of pure boredom. Ino, who had accompanied him to the Hanakage tower, stood by to catch the various objects he deemed 'crap' and threw aside.

"There's nothing here that catches my interest," Orochimaru stated flatly. "Do you see anything of your interest, Ino?"

Said blonde shook her head. "I'm afraid nothing has caught my eye, Orochimaru-sama. Perhaps the Hyakunichisou District has some better things to search. Shall we go?"

The Snake Sannin nodded and began to replace everything he had thrown out back into the trunk. Ino placed all of the objects she held back inside and reclosed the trunk in approval. Once everything had been cleaned up, Ino and Orochimaru made their way to the Hyakunichisou District. They encountered Itachi and Sasuke along the way.

"Oh, it's Ino and Orochimaru-sama," Itachi noted. "Sasuke, there's your girlfriend."

Sasuke blushed and popped a blood vessel in his head. "She's not, nor will she ever be, my girlfriend."

Itachi smirked. Ever since Sasuke had been calling her Ino-chan, he had been calling her his girlfriend.

Ino waved hello to the Uchiha siblings, oblivious to Sasuke's condition. "Hi Sasuke-kun, Itachi-senpai!"

Itachi waved back while Sasuke sunk his head to avoid Ino's cheerful gaze.

"What're you guys up to all the way over here?"

"Nothing much," Orochimaru answered. "I wanted to check the village out, and I just happened to come across Ino here. Isn't her outfit gorgeous?"

Ino scratched the back of her head sheepishly. She'd created her own outfit the same as all of the other Sakura ninja had. It consisted of a baggy light purple off-the-shoulder top with a mild purple blouse over it (A/N: Picture Tenten's shirt, but light purple with darker purple straps.), a dark purple qipao-style skirt with light purple puffy pants resembling a hakama underneath, black ninja sandals and a purple hairclip. She'd also painted her nails purple to match her qipao and bound her ankles with bandages.

"Oh, it's nothing," Ino said, hiding her curiosity as to what Sasuke thought of her outfit. "My mother taught me how to sew a while back…"

"I think it's nice, Ino-chan," Sasuke said. Realizing what he just said, he slapped his hand over his mouth. Itachi and Orochimaru burst out laughing while Sasuke and Ino blushed.

"I told you!" Itachi said.

"I didn't mean it that way, I swear!"

"Of course you didn't," Orochimaru said between chuckles.

"No way!"

"Foolish little brother…"

…..

Naruto POV

"So basically what you're saying… is that if I come with you, I will have the chance to have a better life?"

"Exactly," the unofficial Hanakage responded.

"Who all have you taken in?"

"That's a pretty long list, princess. Let's see… I've taken in Ino Yamanaka, Lee Roku, Mikan Tofune, Yashamaru Akado, Temari and Gaara Sabakuno, Sasuke and Itachi Uchiha, Tenten Izumi, Orochimaru Hebiten…"

The woman he was speaking to spit out her sake. "Orochimaru has joined you?"

"That's correct, princess."

"Was he willing to go with you?" the woman asked, slamming her hands on the table. "Tell me, was he willing?"

"Relax, Tsunade," Naruto said, ignoring the broken table. "Orochimaru joined me of his own free will. He is of no harm to use. However, I am using a mind control Jutsu on him for precautions. He remembers nothing about the experiments he performed, nor anything about his dream of learning all of the Jutsu in the world. You have nothing to fear."

Tsunade sunk back into her chair. "Does he remember Jiraiya and me?"

"I'm pretty sure he does, but I'm not entirely sure."

"How do you know he's not dangerous? How are you sure he's not a threat to your village?"

"He has three apprentices already, Sasuke Uchiha, Ino Yamanaka, and Temari Sabakuno. He wouldn't do anything to harm them."

"He took in Anko Mitarashi and he was still psycho."

"That was before he was on my mind control Jutsu."

Tsunade appeared to be lost in thought. Naruto took this opportunity to tell her of Sakuragakure.

"How much do you know of my village, princess?"

"Nothing, Hanakage-sama."

"Would you like to know about it to make your decision easier?"

Tsunade's eyes widened. "What is there to know?"

Naruto smiled at the Slug Princess. "More than you think."

…..

Temari POV

"How long are we to be kept out here?" Temari said, groaning. Naruto had gone in search of Tsunade and found her in a bar near Suna, leaving Temari, Gaara, Mikan, and the newly recruited Yashamaru outside. Tsunade had left her assistant Shizune and her pet Tonton outside as well.

"Until Naruto is done in there," Gaara stated plainly.

"Well of course, but how long will that take?"

"I'm sure Hanakage-sama is trying the best he can to finish up quickly," Yashamaru said with a smile.

"Tsunade-sama isn't the easiest person to convert to your side," Shizune said. She bounced Tonton in the air a little, making her giggle a bit. "She's a tough nut to crack."

"I'm sure she's not an easy woman. After all, she's been through one too many hardships in the past."

"If you could call them hardships," Mikan said.

"Why do we need the Legendary Sucker in Sakura, anyway?" Temari inquired. Naruto and Gaara had had a private conversation and decided to go after Tsunade, which confused Temari greatly.

"I need a sensei for when Yashamaru cannot teach me anymore," Gaara stated.

"That's what you and Naruto-kun were speaking of?"

"That's the gist of it, yes."

"So this whole trip is just to find a sensei?"

"Pretty much."

"…This should count as an A-Rank mission…"

…..

Naruto POV

"A liquid Kekkei-Genkai?" Tsunade inquired.

"Precisely," Naruto responded. "The vials contain the blood of the first man or woman to carry the Kekkei-Genkai, along with petals of a specified flower and water to make it seem lighter."

"How are these… liquid Kekkei-Genkai… passed on?"

"They are injected into the bloodstream. Once it's there, it can only be removed through surgery."

"How long does it take for the new blood to settle in?"

"The effect is immediate."

"What kinds of liquid Kekkei-Genkai did you acquire?"

"Five different types of liquid were found along with multiple scrolls explaining their usage. They are called Aohana Release, Momohana Release, Syuhana Release, Kihana Release, and Crystal Release. I'm afraid I can't risk telling you what they can do just yet."

"Interesting…" Tsunade said. "If I follow you, will you allow me to test a few of them on some of your ninja?"

"Of course you can," Naruto replied. "On one condition."

"And what would that be?"

"My best friend Gaara needs a sensei for when his uncle Yashamaru can't teach him. Princess, there is no other candidate on my mind other than you. Will you do it?"

Tsunade closed her eyes in thought. She hadn't had a student in many, many years, and she wasn't sure she'd like having a male pupil. On the other hand, nothing was holding her back. She had no family other than Shizune, and constantly moved from village to village, gambling all of her money away. She reopened her eyes and smiled lightly.

"I accept your offer, Hanakage-sama," she said. "Who will my test subjects be?"

Naruto smiled right back at her. "For Aohana Release, I have decided that Hinata Hyuga will receive it. For Momohana Release, I'd like Temari-chan try it. For Syuhana Release, I suppose Neji-kun could have it. As for Kihana, I know that Gaara will use it well."

"And what of Crystal Release?"

"I would like to offer myself as a test subject for Crystal Release."

Tsunade gaped. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive."

"As you wish… and, Hanakage-sama?"

"What is it, princess?"

"What is your true name?"

Naruto smiled. "My name is Naruto Namikaze. If you wish to know of my heritage, my mother was Kushina Uzumaki and my father was Minato Namikaze. My grandmother was Mito Uzumaki and my grandfather was Hashirama Senju. That would make you and Nawaki my cousins."

"You're related to Minato Namikaze?"

"Keep quiet, princess. Not everyone knows of my heritage. If anyone irresponsible were to find out that I am related to three Hokage and the legendary Tsunade Senju, who knows what would happen."

"Oh-oh… sorry about that Hanakage-sama…"

"That's no problem. However, I do have one question for you…"

"Ask me anything, I will answer as best I can," Tsunade said.

"What do you know of the whereabouts of Jiraiya?"

…..

Temari POV

Just as Temari was about to complain once more, Tsunade and Naruto stepped out from the bar. Temari was relieved that she didn't have to wait any longer.

"What took you guys so long? I was beginning to worry."

"I'll tell you about it later, Temari-chan," Naruto responded. "Right now, I have another recruit to track down. Who will accompany me?"

Tsunade, noting her cousin's word choice, decided to speak. "Don't you mean 'us', Hanakage-sama?"

Naruto looked surprised for a moment, but he soon broke out into a grin. "Right, who will accompany us?"

Gaara stepped forward. "I'm sure you know already that I will accompany you anywhere without question. I suggest nee-chan, Yashamaru, Mikan-senpai, Shizune, and Tonton return to Sakura without us."

Temari nodded in approval. "Naruto-kun, who will serve as the Hanakage while you are away?"

"I've decided that Mikan-san will take my place for the time being."

Mikan bowed in deep respect to the Hanakage. "Of course, Hanakage-sama. Let's return home."

With that, Temari, Mikan, Yashamaru, and Shizune carrying Tonton disappeared via body flicker.

…..

Gaara POV

Once the remainder of the group had left, Gaara turned to face Tsunade.

"Did you agree to take me on as a successor?"

Tsunade nodded. "Yes, I will train you to become the best medical ninja the world has ever seen. That's a guarantee."

Gaara flashed a rare smile. "Thank you, Tsunade-hime."

"From now on, it's Tsunade-sensei to you," she corrected playfully.

"Sorry to interrupt your banter," Naruto interjected. "But we have to get going."

"Pardon me," Gaara said. "But who are we going after exactly?"

"We're heading for a small town to the East to look for Jiraiya of the Sannin."

"Very well, then. Naruto, does she know about our… situation?"

Naruto shook his head. "She will know when I am sure she is loyal to us."

Tsunade was completely and utterly confused. "What situation?"

Gaara faced Tsunade again. "We will explain when we deem it necessary. For now, let us go east to find him."

"Oh… okay then, we best get a move on."

Tsunade, Naruto, and Gaara sprinted east, not talking in order to save breath.

…..

Lee POV

"I could become a Taijutsu master?" Lee inquired, tilting his head to the side.

"Yes," Orochimaru replied. "Since you cannot mold chakra to use Ninjutsu or Genjutsu, you have the potential to become the best Taijutsu user in the Shinobi world."

Ino nodded in agreement. "Yeah Lee-kun, you have great potential. Not to mention you have determination that can rival Naruto-sama's."

Lee looked at his hands, trying to imagine himself as a Taijutsu master. "You really think I could pull it off?"

Sasuke nodded. "You're no good with chakra, but you're already physically stronger than me, so you wouldn't need chakra at all."

"But who would teach me?"

"I'm sure Mikan-senpai would be more than willing to show you a bit of her skill."

"I would be willing to take you on as an apprentice, as well," Orochimaru added.

"See, Lee-kun?" Ino said with a smile. "You're so awesome, you've got the Snake Sannin after you!"

Orochimaru chuckled sheepishly. "I wouldn't say I'm _after _him, but I would definitely show him a few tricks."

Sasuke put his arm around Lee's shoulders. "So, what do you say?"

Lee once again stared at his hands. How much could he accomplish with them? After plenty of thought, Lee smiled brighter than he ever had before. "I'll be the best Taijutsu user in the world!"

…..

Naruto POV

After three hours of strenuous searching, Naruto, Tsunade, and Gaara managed to locate Jiraiya in a nearby _onsen_. Naruto and Gaara made their way to confront him while Tsunade stood by the door with a cast iron frying pan pumped full of chakra.

Once he was inside, Naruto concealed his chakra and dove into the water while Gaara stood by to catch him if he ran. When Naruto thought it to be ready, he emerged from the water, threw his towel on, and walked toward Jiraiya, all while concealing his chakra.

He placed his foot on Jiraiya's head, startling the Toad Sage.

"What're you doing, peeping like that?" he asked, giving off killer intent like a radiator.

"I'm not peeping!" Jiraiya claimed. "I'm merely gathering research for my latest book!"

"Gathering research is considered peeping when it uses a telescope… _Ero-Sennin_."

Jiraiya popped a blood vessel in his head. "Why you…"

As soon as his head was let free, he spun around to come face-to-face with a mini-Minato.

"Mi-Minato…"

"Not quite, old man. Name's Naruto."

"Naruto… and what's your surname?"

"I'm sure you can figure it out. After all, you _are _my godfather."

Jiraiya's eyes widened. "That's right; my full name is Naruto Namikaze."

"You look just like him…"

"Yeah, the princess describes me as even more of a looker than my father was. The only three differences between tou-chan and I are my whiskers, a 'special' gift, and the hair."

"What's different about the hair?"

Before entering, Naruto had pulled all of his hair back into a dumpling-style (A/N: Like Ino used when she cut her hair, but rather than orange, Naruto's is dark green.)and covered his right eye with bandages, so Jiraiya couldn't see any real difference between hairstyles and he couldn't see the Rinnegan.

"My hair would put yours to shame."

"I beg to differ."

Sighing, Naruto let his hair down and smoothed it out a little. It had grown slightly and now reached a little past his knees. Jiraiya gaped.

"Jeez kid, how long have you been growing your hair out?"

"Longer than I'd care to mention right now. Look, I have a proposition. Come with me if you want to hear me out."

When Jiraiya nodded and stood up, he finally noticed Gaara standing by with an amused look on his face.

"Kid, who's that?"

"That's Gaara. If something was to happen to me and I could not take my position, Gaara would replace me. Come on, I have someone that wants a word with you."

After changing into grey yukatas, Jiraya, Naruto, and Gaara met up with Tsunade, who promptly hit Jiraiya over the head with the frying pan she held handy.

After beating her old teammate into the floor, Tsunade poked Naruto in the ribs.

"Naruto-kun, your figure is almost as feminine as mine," she said, annoying Naruto in the process.

It was true: If Tsunade had a flat chest, she would have looked just like Naruto, but older and thus larger. Gaara still couldn't understand how it happened, but he knew his figure would have put Temari to shame in his past life.

"I get that a lot… anyway, if you'll kindly revive the perverted hermit down there…" Naruto said, motioning to the half-dead Toad Sage.

Ten minutes later, the four legends sat in a circle discussing their options.

"So, what do you say?" Gaara inquired.

"It's tempting… but what's in it for me?" Jiraiya responded.

"A well-hidden village that'll quite possibly fill up with women in the future."

When Jiraiya went googly-eyed, Tsunade hit him over the head.

"On a more serious note, we really need your assistance," Naruto said, interlocking his fingers together in a formal manner.

"As much as I hate to admit it," Tsunade started. "With your addition, Sakura would become much stronger."

"I see… who have you recruited?"

Naruto went down the list one by one, from Itachi to Hinata, before he dramatically paused.

"…And Orochimaru of the Sannin."

Jiraiya nearly choked on his own throat when he heard Orochimaru's name.

"That's the same way I reacted, so don't think you're alone," Tsunade said.

"You… recruited Orochimaru? How?" Jiraiya asked, still gagging.

"I used a mind control Jutsu on him. I'll explain in detail if you come back with us,"-Naruto stretched his hand out to Jiraiya-"Do we have a deal?"

Jiraiya took his hand without delay and nodded. "We have a deal."

…..

**PLEASE REVIEW! And another poll or two for you beautiful people!**

**WHAT SHOULD HAPPEN TO GAARA DURING THE KONOHA CHUNIN EXAM?**

**1: Gaara is injured slightly, but nothing serious.**

**2: Gaara's right eye is injured and he has to keep a bandage over it for a year.**

**3: NaruIno367 should leave Gaara-kun alone!**

…**..**

**WHO SHOULD NARUTO FIGHT DURING THE KONOHA CHUNIN EXAM?**

**1: Tsunade in disguise.**

**2: Jiraiya in disguise.**

**3: Orochimaru in disguise.**

**4: An OC.**

**5: Gaara.**

**6: Temari.**

**7: Sakura.**

**8: Lee.**

**9: Tayuya.**

**10: Sasuke.**

…**.**

**Thanks for reading this far! AND I APOLOGIZE IF THE CHUNIN EXAM WAS CONFUSING AND/OR TOO QUICK!**

**Ciao! ~NaruIno367**


	6. Chapter 6 Sannin Reunion

***Cries* I'M SO SORRY FOR NOT UPDATING ANYTHING FOR FOREVER AND A HALF! I HAVE LITTLE TO NO EXCUSES, BUT DON'T KILL ME!**

Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure I don't own Naruto… I think…

…..

Tsunade POV

It took an entire five hours to return to Sakura, but it was worth it. As soon as Naruto opened the blood-sealed door for the two Sannin, they were breathless—Tsunade especially, since she had never seen anything so gorgeous in her entire life.

Once Gaara ushered them inside, they were greeted by a young blonde girl in a simple purple qipao and a brunette Hyuga in a white yukata. They both bowed respectfully.

"I see Naruto-sama has brought some more guests for us," the girl noted. "It is a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Ino Yamanaka."

The Hyuga next to her smoothed his hair out slightly. "And my name is Neji Hyuga," he said. "Would you like for us to show them around, Naruto-sama?"

Naruto shook his head. "Not right now, Neji-kun. I have something planned right now. However, later on I have a feeling the pervert and the princess would want to take a look around."

"Hey, wait just a minute here!" Jiraiya exclaimed. "I'm no pervert! Sure I'm a flirt, but I'm no pervert!"

Naruto glared at Jiraiya. "Do you want to meet Orochimaru-sama or not?"

That was enough to keep the Toad Sage quiet.

"Thank you. Ino, Neji-kun, you are both dismissed."

Ino and Neji bowed respectfully and leapt off into opposing directions. Tsunade chuckled a bit.

"Friends of yours, Naruto-kun?"

"You could say that I suppose," Naruto responded. "I will wait for you at the Hanakage tower. It's pretty noticeable, as it closely resembles the Hokage tower."

"Wait kid, do you really think you can outrun us?"

"I don't think I can."

Just as Jiraiya was about to exclaim something along the lines of 'I told you so, you brat!', Naruto continued speaking.

"I know I can."

As soon as his sentence was finished, Naruto disappeared in a flash of yellow, startling him and Tsunade.

Tsunade's shock was quickly replaced with pride. "I told you so, you pervert."

Jiraiya simply looked away in embarrassment.

…..

Tenten POV

A brunette girl with twin Chinese buns in her hair clad in a white t-shirt and blue pants could be seen in the Hyakunichisou District, inspecting the different types of weapons Itachi had uncovered. Currently, she was inspecting a two-pronged kunai she had found.

Pushing her finger against the tip and drawing blood in the process, she could tell that it was very sharp despite sitting around for a long time. She placed the kunai in her pocket and began to search through the varying weapons when a shadow came over her. Looking behind her, she saw Shikamaru Nara with a bored expression on his face.

"Hey, Shikamaru-san," she greeted with a smirk. "Lazy as ever, are you?"

Shikamaru snorted in response before sitting next to her. "At least I woke up this morning, Tenten. What're you doing over here, anyway?"

Tenten rolled her eyes. "I could ask you the same thing. I live in the Hyakunichisou District and you live in the Sakura District."

"It's a new village, so it's only natural that I would want to see more of it."

Tenten nodded in approval at the answer and continued inspecting a small mace she'd found. Shikamaru yawned and laid back.

"I'll have to find a new hobby if I'm going to be living in a cave in the middle of a desert for the rest of my life…"

"I suppose that's true. I'm surprised you didn't say…"

"It's too troublesome to find a new hobby…"

"…never mind."

…..

Naruto POV

Tsunade and Jiraiya followed after Naruto, who had changed into his regrettably pink Hanakage uniform. It was still a little bit loose on him, but it fit well nonetheless.

Once they came to a large aqua door, Naruto turned to face the Sannin.

"I have a few things to tell you before we enter this room," he said, a strict look on his face that immediately captured Tsunade's attention. Jiraiya had already been staring at him.

"For one, I have allowed Orochimaru-sama to return to Otogakure to retrieve some of his old villagers via snake clone. In the time I provided him with, he has gathered nine Oto villagers and has given them residences according to personality and abilities."

"What of the rest of Oto?" Tsunade asked.

"The rest of Oto has been taken care of, so don't worry. Orochimaru and his nine companions have destroyed the stubborn ones and closed off the village."

"Amazing… did it count as a mission?" Jiraiya wondered.

"Actually, yes it did," Naruto answered. "The first officially assigned mission happened to be an S-Rank. Now, we're getting off topic. I will place a Wind Jutsu on you to protect you from… 'him'."

"Who do you mean by 'him'?" Tsunade asked.

"One of Orochimaru-sama's accomplices," Naruto replied, forming invisible air bubbles around Tsunade and Jiraiya separately. When he formed one around himself, he opened the door, revealing an under-decorated room with a water tank at the far end. Jiraiya closed the door behind him, earning a nod from Naruto. Said blonde walked calmly over to the water tank. When he pushed a red button on the tank, the glass casing opened, filling the entire room with water. The Hanakage turned around to face the Sannin.

"Now do you see why I used that Wind Jutsu?"

There was no response as the room filled completely with water. As soon as the contained ceased leaking water, Tsunade and Jiraiya could sense a strange chakra.

After a short while, a figure formed in the water. The water figure had shoulder-length white hair with a blue tint, purple eyes and sharp teeth. From the face, the Sannin couldn't tell whether it was a boy or a girl, but as the rest of his body formed, they could tell it was a boy.

"Princess, pervert, I'd like you to meet Suigetsu Hozuki," Naruto said, gesturing to the white-haired boy.

Said boy nodded his head and smiled, making Tsunade cringe at his teeth. However, she mustered up her courage and made her way over to him, bowing. "Tsunade Senju at your service, Hozuki-san."

Suigetsu's eyes widened. "You're one of the legendary Sannin, aren't you?"

Tsunade nodded in response.

"Then it's a pleasure to meet you, Tsunade-hime."

Suigetsu's eyes locked with Jiraiya's. "And you are another Sannin, correct?"

Jiraiya nodded.

"To think that I have met all three of the legendary Sannin… just the thought excites me."

Naruto tapped Suigetsu on the shoulder. "Hey fish boy, put some clothes on and drain the room, would you? We need to see Orochimaru-sama."

Surprisingly, Suigetsu did as he was told with no delay. He had slipped on a purple sleeveless vinyl shirt, dark blue pants, knee-high black Shinobi sandals, and a limp light purple rope tied in a bow in the back around his waist. He placed his white Sakura hitai-ate around his neck and pressed a combination of buttons on the tank. Soon after he did so, the water was completely gone and Naruto had released his Wind Jutsu.

Suigetsu turned to face Naruto. "Am I the escort or something?"

When he got a nod, he motioned for the group to follow him. He led them through a long hallway of gold walls and shiny blue flooring. Torches lined the sides of the hall, which slightly scared Tsunade. At the end of the hallway stood a simple silver door, which Suigetsu opened, letting the group through as he held it open for them.

It was only when they were done inspecting the well-decorated room that they noticed a figure in the corner, staring at them intently. Jiraiya pointed at the silhouette, confusing Tsunade.

"O-Orochimaru…"

…..

Orochimaru POV

Orochimaru Hebiten had no clue what was going on. All he knew was that he had just returned from his first mission in Sakura and was enjoying his solitude when his door was opened. When he turned around, his eyes met with a busty blonde woman with brown eyes and a surprised man with white hair. What confused him the most was that the man was pointing at him with his mouth agape. As he studied the pair's faces further, his own mouth fell open.

"Tsunade… Jiraiya… is that you?"

Before he could react, Orochimaru was enveloped in a bear hug. Turning to see who it was, he was surprised to see Tsunade's blonde hair.

"Tsunade…? What is this all of a sudden, huh?"

The Slug Sannin released her grip on Orochimaru as soon as she remembered that he had no memory of his past. She stumbled back and sputtered out an excuse.

"I-I just haven't seen you in a while, that's all…"

She was too preoccupied with Orochimaru that she didn't notice Jiraiya fuming behind her.

"So, Orochimaru…" Jiraiya started. "What's Sakura like?"

As the Snake Sannin began his explanation, both Naruto and Suigetsu strode out of the room, not being noticed by Tsunade, Jiraiya, or Orochimaru.

…..

Suigetsu POV

"So Naruto-sama, why did you really awaken me?" Suigetsu questioned.

"Aha Suigetsu-kun, I knew you were smart," Naruto replied. "How did you figure it out?"

"Simple. You could've shown them to Orochimaru-sama's room without my assistance. Meaning you didn't release me for nothing. So what's the deal here?"

The Hanakage smirked. "Actually, I'd like you to meet your new colleagues later today."

"You mean the prisoners that were experimented on just like me?"

"Sadly, yes. They're a rather interesting bunch, if you ask me."

"What are their names? I mean, if you don't mind me asking."

"Kin Tsuchi, Zaku Abumi, Dosu Kinuta, Kimimaro Kaguya, Tayuya Yokobue, Sakon and Ukon Bunkatsu, Mikuto Takeshi, Karin Uzumaki, and Kidomaru Hachikata."

"I recognize some of them… the Kaguya, especially. What are you going to do about his 'condition'?"

Naruto gestured to Orochimaru's chamber. "I'm hoping Gaara and Tsunade-hime will have a look at him. I may not be a medic, but I know a curable disease from an incurable one."

Suigetsu nodded. "I could say the same. There's been something I've been wanting to ask you, by the way."

"And what would that be?"

"You and I aren't far apart in age, so how is it that you are able to speak on a higher level than I? I was taught at a young age by the Hozuki clan members, yet you lost your entire family save for Karin. Were you self-taught?"

Naruto nodded. _He still doesn't know of Nagato… might as well settle in his catchphrase. _As the Hanakage walked away, Suigetsu could hear his rather distinctive voice.

"In a sense, I did teach myself. My motivation? _Gekokujo_."

Suigetsu chuckled lightly.

_Gekokujo, huh? That's interesting… I might as well—_

He was interrupted by a feral scream followed by a loud crash. Two more screams trailed behind. Suigetsu sweat-dropped.

_I guess Tsunade-hime couldn't keep in her urges after all…_

…..

**Sorry if this is a bad place to stop, but I really needed to put this up as soon as possible. I'll make sure the next one is longer and better, I promise!**

**Ciao! ~NaruIno367**


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